The government has taken up a 20-year master plan at a cost of Tk 233944.21 crore to implement 235 projects in four phases to make the rail communication modern, Railways Minister Md.
Mazibul Hoque told Parliament on Monday.
“The government on June 30 last year approved the master plan,” he said in response to a starred question of M Nabi Newaz (Jhinidah-3).
Mazkbul Hoque informed that in the last five years, the government approved 39 new projects costing Tk 19441.04 crore and 23 revised projects costing Tk 10280.76 crore for facing the challenges of the 21st century and drastically reform the Bangladesh Railway.
In this regard, he said the government formed the separate Railways Ministry on December 4, 2011 aiming to make the railway communication in the country modern and time-befitting.
Responding to a supplementary question of Abdul Matin Khasru (AL-Comilla), the Railways Minister said that the government is looking for financer for the ‘elevated cord line’ from Dhaka to Comilla to reduce the train journey time from Dhaka to Chittagong.
“If this line can be set up, the journey time from Dhaka to Chittagong will be reduced by two hours.”
He mentioned that the government had already prepared the project papers in this regard.
Replying to another supplementary question from Shamim Osman (Awami League-Narayanganj), Mazibul Hoque said that the government would take the necessary steps to set up double line from Dhaka to Chittagong quickly.
“This can be set up by own resource of foreign funding,” he said.
Source: UNBConnect
