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CHATTOGRAM: The Matarbari deep-sea port will be connected by a train link with the port city and Dhaka as a new railway track will be set up leading to the Chattogram-Gumdum-Cox's Bazar dual gauge double line.
Sources said a 26-kilometre railway track will be set up under the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar dual gauge double line project to link the Matarbari deep-sea port with the national railway network.
The cost for setting up the new rail line is estimated to be Tk 130 billion (Tk 13,000 crore).
The new line will be constructed connecting Chokoria upazila of Cox's Bazar, Gumdum, Matarbari and Chattogram.
Once the new track is built, the deep-sea port at Matarbari upazila of Cox's Bazar district will be linked with the national railway network, officials said.
According to an official at the Bangladesh Railways, a feasibility study on this connection has already been made.
M Abidur Rahman, Project Director (PD) of Chattogram-Cox's Bazar-Gumdum dual gauge double line project said, the design of the new rail line was already completed. An elevated expressway will be constructed, on which an 11-kilometre railway track will be set up as per the design to connect the deep-sea port, he stated.
The plan to set up a rail line there was originally conceived with a view to carrying coal for the Matarbari coal-fired power plant. However, the decision to connect the railway track to the national railway network came later on.
Sources said the cost of constructing the Matarbari deep-sea port is estimated at Tk 177.75 billion or Tk 17,775 crore. Its construction work finally kicked off on November 16 2020.
The project is likely to be completed in 2025.
Once completed, it will be the first deep-sea port in Bangladesh.