Tongi-Bhairab railway double track work progressing fast

Construction work for upgrading the Dhaka-Chittagong single track railway into double track in the Tongi-Bhairab section is progressing fast.
The progress has been 56 per cent in the last twenty four months and it is likely to be completed within the scheduled time, a railway official said.
He said if the current rate of progress continues the 65-kilometre Tongi-Bhairab part is expected to be completed within schedule by October 2014.
Out of 320 kilometres of the railway track from Dhaka to Chittagong, only 117 kilometres have double track and the remaining 203 kilometres is single track.
The government has taken the two-track upgrading project in phases and as part of the plan the Tongi-Bhairab section was awarded to a Chinese construction firm.
The double track project was taken to increase the capacity of Dhaka-Chittagong tracks and reduce the present travel time.
With the existing single-track infrastructure a train has to wait at a station to allow another train coming from opposite side to pass and it is time consuming.
Director of the project Sagar Krishna Chakrabarty said once completed the double track railway line would permit increasing the number of trips from Dhaka to Sylhet, Chittagong and Noakhali and reduce travel time by more than an hour.
The project director said upgrading of the track from single to double is a part of the government plan to turn the entire Dhaka-Chittagong route into fully double-track railway line.
A Chinese firm was awarded the project and local firm Toma Construction and Company Limited (TCCL) is working as sub contractor for the project.
TCCL managing director Mohd Ataur Rahman Bhuiyan (Manik) said his company is working as sub contractor for the project's earthwork and his company's progress of work is more than 54 per cent.
He said the work on the project also include construction of 71 small and big bridges, new passenger stations, laying tracks and putting up the signalling system.
Funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB), the cost of the project is Tk14 billion. ADB is also doing study for upgrading the existing single track between Laksham to Chinkiastana of Mirersharai into double track.
The construction work of the project started in November 2011 and its completion date has been fixed in October 2014, sources said.