The Jamuna Railway Bridge, the longest dedicated one of the country for train movements, is set to be opened for regular operation on March 18, officials said.

   “We are taking preparation for opening of the bridge at 10am on March 18. Trains from both directions will pass through the bridge from then on,” project director of the bridge Al Fattah M Masudur Rahman told BSS here today.

   He said Bangladesh Railways (BR) started operating passenger trains through the newly built bridge on a trial basis from February 12, using one of the two lanes of the bridge.

   The 4.8-kilometer-long dedicated double line dual gauge bridge will link the country’s northwestern region with Dhaka and rest of the country through railway tracks.

   Rahman said train passengers using the 4.8-kilometer-long bridge would have to pay additional money as pontage charge, which is applied to Padma Bridge as well.

  Railways ministry Fahimul Islam earlier train passengers would need to pay extra amount ranging between Tk. 45 to Tk.160 depending on the seat category as pontage fare.

   The officials said the potage charge would be counted on the basis of the bridge’s length and the amount would be used for the bridge’s maintenance.

    BR Director General Afzal Hossain said that the new fare will come into effect from March 19, a day after the bridge will be formally inaugurated.

   Railway authorities prepared a route-based fare chart under which fares would be increased by a minimum of Tk. 45 and up to a maximum of Tk. 160, depending on the class of the train seats.

   The BR chief said the new dedicated railway bridge is located 300 metres upstream of the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge and the structure would enable authorities to run 88 trains through the country’s longest railway bridge at high speeds.

   The trial run was carried out earlier on the bridge when a train crossed it at a speed of 120 kph. 

   Since opening of the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge in 1998 some 38 trains have been crossing daily connecting the central part of Bangladesh including Dhaka with north, northwestern, southern and southwestern regions.

   Railway officials said the government decided to construct the dedicated railway bridge in 2020 while its foundation stone was laid on November 29 of the same year.

   The structure was built at a cost of Tk. 16,780.96 crore, 72.4 percent of which was provided by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as loan while the government provided the rest of the amount.

   Japan’s OTG and IHI constructed the bridge as a joint venture project.

   The bridge required 7.667 kilometres of approach embankment and loop and 30.73 kilometres of railway tracks.BSS