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The Bangladesh Railway is going to start a trial run of a special train on the Mawa-Bhanga section crossing through the Padma Bridge on Thursday morning.
The train will start its journey from Kamalapur Railway Station at 8:45 am and will reach Bhanga at 11:54 am, senior information officer of the Railways Ministry Shiraj ud Doula Khan said, reports BSS.
Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan, Secretary of the Ministry of Railways Dr Mohammad Humayun Kabir and other officials will be on board.
"We hope the trial run of the special train will be done on Thursday from Mawa to Bhanga through Padma Multipurpose Bridge," Afzal Hossain, Project Director of the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project said.
He said a test run of a train of the Padma Bridge rail link between Faridpur's Bhanga and the Padma Bridge viaduct at Shariatpur was conducted earlier.
"The project will be implemented within June, 2024. We have already completed 99 percent of the work from Mawa to Bhanga section. The construction of the rail link is moving fast," Afzal added.
Under the fast-track project, he said, the Bangladesh Railway is implementing the project to connect the capital with Jashore with a 169km rail line for Taka 392.47 billion, with Exim Bank of China providing Taka 210.37 billion as loan, according to the project details.
It said the Chinese government-nominated contractor China Railway Group Limited is implementing the project under China G2G system.
After completing the project, the railway connectivity will improve accessibility to the capital city Dhaka with central and south western regions of the country through Padma Bridge covering new areas of Munshiganj, Shariatpur, Madaripur and Narail districts, the project details said.
The project will establish alternate railway connectivity linking Dhaka-Jessore-Khulna with 212.05 km shorter route and improved operational facilities, it added.
It will also establish another sub-route of Trans-Asian Railway Network in Bangladesh and introduce national, regional and international freight and BG container train service as this route will be free from speed and load restriction for carrying containers.
The government approved the construction of the 169-km railway line from Dhaka to Jessore in March, 2016 and it is listed as a fast-track project.