CHATTOGRAM, Jan 25: The decision to lay 45 km Ctg-Dohazari dual gauge rail line with Asian Development Bank's loan (ADB) is expected to be taken in February.
"An ADB delegation will visit Bangladesh from February 16 to 18," said Engineer Sabuktagin, General Manager of Bangladesh Railway East Zone.
He said that ADB has agreed to provide loan for the project.
Bangladesh Railway (BR) will float tenders to appoint a consultant for the project very soon, said officials.
BR has plans to construct a new broad gauge line from Pahartali to Dohazari to connect Dhaka with Chattogram and Cox's Bazar.
The government has taken a project to convert existing Chattogram-Dohazari metre gauge track into dual gauge track and connect Dohazari with Dhaka and Chattogram at an estimated cost of Tk10,797.09 crore.
Officials said the broad gauge line in the eastern region up to Cox's Bazar will remove the obstacles of constructing the Trans-Asia Railway Connectivity to connect Bangladesh with China, Pakistan, India and Myanmar.
BR will convert the entire Dhaka-Chattogram railway line from metre gauge to broad gauge by 2027 with loan from the ADB.
Railway lines in the eastern region are now metre gauge, while the broad gauge tracks are mostly in the western region.
The upgradation of the railway lines will allow running high-speed broad gauge trains on the Dhaka-Cox's Bazar route, which will reduce the travel time by about an hour.
BR will implement the transformation of Chattogram-Dohazari meter gauge rail line into dual gauge by June 2028 with Tk 7,085.64 crore loan from the ADB.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) ly approved the Development Project Proposal (DPP) of the 45 km dual gauge double rail line project from Pahartali to Dohazari on October 31, 2023.
The ECNEC approved the Tk 10,797.09 crore project for transforming the Chattogram-Dohazari meter gauge railway track into dual gauge in a bid to ensure safe, speedy and uninterrupted railway between tourist resort Cox's Bazar with Chattogram.
The main project components include transformation of 45 kilometer track into dual gauge, installing computerised interlocking signal, reconstruction of three station buildings, renovation of 14 station buildings, reconstruction of 20 major bridges and 68 minor bridges, three railway overpasses and procurement of 30 meter gauge diesel electric locomotives.