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The 6th time extension for completion of the much-talked about rehabilitation of the Kulaura-Shahbajpur rail section ended on 30 June this year while the progress is only 60 percent yet.
However, the Bangladesh Railway (BR) extended the timeline up to December 2026 with another year in test period till December 2027, said an official on Tuesday. The railway authorities also asked the Indian contracting firm to make things ready for resuming train service by June 2027.
Contacted, Md Sultan Ali, project director of the said Kulaura-Shahbajpur rail rehabilitation project, told this correspondent that they were trying their best to complete things at an earliest as the work was suspended on occasions for various reasons. Out of the 29 km track, 15 km track setting has been completed by now while the rest has been going on fast. Construction of a few of the six railway stations and platforms has been completed while the others are nearing completion.
The project work includes installation of 52.54 km main line and 7.77 km loop line. Besides, 17 major bridges and 41 box culverts are being constructed.
After several escalations, the project cost now stands at Tk72,849.78 lakh including Tk17,251.02 lakh in GOB contribution. The rest is LOC of the Indian government.
Sources informed that the work was suspended on several occasions for various reasons.
The Indian contractors initially delayed to start the work. Again suspending the work, they left for India after 5 August regime changeover.
However, they returned and resumed the work after several months.
Meanwhile, a team of officials headed by the senior secretary, planning commission member, Physical Infrastructure Division, MA Akmal Hossain Azad, visited the project site last week.
Additional DG BR, Al Fattah Md. Maswoodur Rahman, Indian contractor's representative and other officials were present. They also went up to the zero point at Shahbajpur to see the track work and others.
Locals alleged various irregularities in the project area and demanded immediate completion of work to resume train service in the Kulaura-Shahbajpur rail section.
They also demanded introducing a train with Chattogram and Dhaka.
In response to the locals' demand, the senior secretary assured that two pairs of local trains from Shahbajpur to Kulaura will be operated while an intercity train will be placed into service on Shahbajpur-Dhaka route.
Established in 1896, the Assam-Bengal Railway started the Kulaura-Shahbajpur rail section, which ran for over a century. But the BR shut it on 7 July of 2003 on the plea of loss, putting the inhabitants of a vast region in huge trouble. Since then, the locals through various initiatives raised the demand to restore the service through major rehabilitation of the rails.
Accordingly the government took up renovation of the whole section at a cost of Tk 1.17billion (Tk117 crore) in 2011 with a target to finish it by 2012.
However, in a changed move, the Indians were involved with the project and it got vast changes after 6 years in 2017 raising the cost to Tk 6.78 billion (Tk 678 crore) including Tk5.56 billion (Tk556 crore) loan in LOC India, with the rest Tk 1.22 billion (Tk 122 crore) to be given by the government.
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