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A special train will experimentally run on the Padma Bridge on Apr 4.
The train will travel from Bhanga to Mawa end of the bridge, according to Padma Bridge Rail Link Project Director Afzal Hossain, reports bdnews24.com.
Following the opening of the bridge last year, authorities in January pushed the projected time to open rail tracks to September.
Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan is scheduled to ride the train through the Mawa-Bhanga section during the trial run.
“We’ve decided to run an inspection car that day. It will travel from Bhanga to Mawa and back,” Afzal said.
No trains crossed the bridge before, so it would be the first time any train did so, he added.
The rail link will stretch 172km from Dhaka to Jashore. Bangladesh Railway will open the Dhaka-Bhanga section by December this year before the Dhaka-Jashore rail link is launched by Jun 30, 2024.
The ECNEC approved the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project in March 2016. The government estimated the cost of constructing the railway from Dhaka to Jashore would be Tk 349.89 billion.
It will have 20 stations - six already existing and 14 to be constructed.
Work for Bhanga-Mawa section was 99 per cent completed while Mawa-Dhaka section was 75 per cent done, Afzal said.