Bangladesh Railway is planning an 81-kilometre elevated cord line from Shyampur in Dhaka to Cumilla to significantly shorten the rail distance between Dhaka and Chattogram.

The proposed railway is estimated to cost Tk 83,901 crore and will be designed to accommodate electric trains in the future. The government has given initial preference to an elevated structure, although the final decision on whether the entire route will be elevated rests with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

The Ministry of Railways is preparing to send the proposal to the Prime Minister’s Office. If the entire route is not built on an elevated structure, the railway line would be around 57 kilometres long and the construction cost could fall by about Tk 10,000 crore.

The details emerged at a stakeholders’ workshop on the project’s feasibility study, design and technical planning held at Rail Bhaban in Dhaka on Monday.

Rail distance to fall by 80km

The existing Dhaka-Chattogram railway route passes through Tongi and Bhairab, covering nearly 320.8 kilometres. Once the proposed cord line becomes operational, the distance would fall to around 240.63 kilometres.

According to Bangladesh Railway calculations, the shorter route could reduce travel time by 1.5 to 2 hours. The Suborno Express currently takes about 4 hours and 50 minutes for the journey, while the proposed system aims to bring the travel time down to around 3 hours and 30 minutes.

Five new stations have also been proposed between Narayanganj and Cumilla. They are Jalkuri, Sonargaon, Titas, Debidwar and Burichang.

Bangladesh Railway Additional Director General (Development) Al Fattah Md Masudur Rahman told Agamir Somoy that the new line would allow the number of passenger trains to be increased.

He said the corridor could eventually be linked with Khulna through the Padma Rail Link, reducing pressure on the existing route and creating more capacity for freight trains.

Elevated structure to cost extra Tk 10,324 crore

Two options were considered for the Dhaka-Cumilla cord line: an earth embankment and an elevated structure.

A combination of earth embankment and elevated structures would cost around Tk 73,577 crore, according to project documents. A fully elevated line, however, is estimated to cost Tk 83,901 crore.

That means the elevated option would require an additional Tk 10,324 crore, or roughly 14 percent more.

The higher cost is aimed at reducing the amount of land needed for the railway corridor. An earth embankment would require a corridor around 56 metres wide, while the elevated option would reduce it to about 30 metres.

The narrower corridor could save around 322 acres of agricultural and residential land from acquisition and prevent the cutting of around 120,000 trees.

Around 4,000 acres to be acquired

Before the main railway project begins, a separate land acquisition project will be undertaken. Bangladesh Railway plans to acquire around 4,000 acres of land, with nearly Tk 20,000 crore earmarked for the purchase.

Once the land acquisition is completed, the main project will be submitted to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for approval.

The construction period is estimated at around four years after work begins.

Railway designed for 160km/h

The proposed corridor will be a double-track broad-gauge railway with a 25-tonne axle load.

Its maximum design speed has been set at 160 kilometres per hour, while the operational speed is planned at 140 kilometres per hour.

The design will also include provisions for future electrification. The height and clearance of the elevated structures are being planned so that overhead electric systems can be installed later.

9 rivers, 8 major truss bridges

The 81.1-kilometre route will cross nine major rivers, including the Shitalakshya, Old Brahmaputra, Meghna and Gomti.

The project includes plans for eight major truss bridges along with several girder bridges. Their combined length will exceed four kilometres.

The largest bridge will be over the Meghna River and is expected to be more than 2.2 kilometres long.

Coordination needed with expressway and gas pipelines

The railway project will have to be coordinated with several major infrastructure projects, including the Bangladesh Bridge Authority’s Dhaka East-West Elevated Expressway, the Roads and Highways Department’s proposed Dhaka-Chattogram eight-lane expressway and Power Grid Bangladesh PLC’s high-voltage transmission lines.

In Sonargaon’s Pirojpur area, the proposed arrangement would place the service road at ground level, the railway’s elevated track above it and the proposed expressway at the highest level.

To allow uninterrupted traffic beneath the railway structure, the planned height of the expressway may need to increase from 17.73 metres to 31.10 metres. This would also require changes to the planned locations of ramps and toll plazas.

At least five major gas pipelines operated by GTCL, Titas and Bakhrabad run along the proposed corridor. Pressure in some sections reaches nearly 1,000 PSI.

Protecting these high-pressure pipelines during piling and foundation work for the elevated railway has therefore emerged as a major technical challenge. Special design measures and coordination with the relevant gas companies and Petrobangla are being considered.

The Dhaka East-West Elevated Expressway is expected to cross the cord line and its spur line at least three times. A minimum clearance of 8.58 metres will be required at those points for the safe operation of electric trains.