BR's own land now to host container handling facilities

Bangladesh Railway (BR) now plans to set up container handling facilities on its own land at Bazarihat in Sirajganj instead of the earlier location near the Bangabandhu Railway Bridge planned to be built over the Jamuna.
The facilities will be used for operating container rail services involving India.
The BR initially decided to set up the container handling facilities near the railway bridge to be built. It also took possession of the land from the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) for that purpose. But later the plan was not found feasible.
The plan was dropped, as the land would be used as a construction yard for the railway bridge project until its completion, sources said.
Even after completion of the bridge project, "the facilities on that site will create a problem with container handling," said an official.
So the site for the container handling facilities has been shifted to Bazarihat. A BR team has already visited the site. A committee has also been formed to work on finalising the site, said the official.
Container Corporation of India and Bangladesh Container Company signed a memorandum of understanding during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in April 2017 to launch the container railway service.
The trial run of a container train from Kolkata to the Bangabandhu Bridge West Station was also conducted on April 03, 2018.
But the service could not be launched in the absence of necessary infrastructure at the West Station for customs checking as recommended by the National Board of Revenue.
Sources said a meeting in this regard was held at the Prime Minister's Office with adviser to Prime Minister on economic affairs Dr Moshiur Rahman in the chair.
They said the meeting decided on a joint team's visit to the site at Bazarihat soon as India showed interest in setting up the container facilities under a grant.
Sources said the site was selected as the BR planned to set up an inland container depot (ICD) in Sirajganj.
That would help the authority concerned to launch the container railway service only by developing the necessary infrastructure, including customs office, they added.
They also said around 100 acres of land would be required for setting up all these facilities.

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