Mongla port set to be connected by rail on June 1
Mongla, the country's second largest sea port, is going to be linked to the railway network on June 1 with the launch of a commuter train on Khulna-Benapole-Mongla route.
Bangladesh Railway is set to launch the train seven months after the inauguration of the Khulna-Mongla rail line. The project was taken up with Indian loans around 13 years ago.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The 64.75km broad gauge line is aimed at boosting internal and transboundary trade, but the BR may not be able to reap the full benefit of the project as it doesn't have any broad gauge container wagons.
The BR has submitted a Development Project Proposal to the railways ministry recently to buy 290 container wagons, meaning it may take three to four years to add such wagons to BR's fleet, officials said.
The state-run transport agency, however, will be able to carry goods in bulk using its wagons. Besides, it will hire Indian container carriers, they said.
The government approved the Tk 1,721-crore Khulna-Mongla Port Rail Line Project in December 2010.
The project, taken up without any feasibility study, was supposed to be completed in three years.
But its physical work began around six years after the approval due to complications over various issues, including land acquisition, changes in the design, and delay in getting approval from the Indian authorities.
When Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi inaugurated the line on November 1 last year, its cost rose to Tk 4,225.71 crore.
According to BR officials, goods brought through the Mongla port can be transported to different parts of the country, including Dhaka, from July when Dhaka-Jashore rail line will open.
Besides, neighboring India, Nepal and Bhutan will also be able to use the sea port, which will boost tradewith the countries, they added.
Shah Sufi Nur Mohammad, divisional railway manager (Paksey) of the BR, said they will launch a commuter train on Khulna-Benapole-Mongla route by slightly changing the route of Betna Commuter Train.
As per the BR schedule, the train will leave Khulna at 6:15am and reach Benapole at 8:30am. Then it will depart Benapole at 9:15am and arrive in Mongla at 12:35pm.
The same train will leave Mongla at 1:00pm and reach Khulna via Benapole at 7:30pm. The minimum fare will be Tk 20 and the maximum fare Tk 85, shows BR document.
Asked about their plan to carry goods from the port, BR Director General Sardar Shahadat Ali said they have already told their Indian counterpart that the line is ready for transportation of goods.
Replying to a query, he said the BR has already signed a memorandum of understanding with the Container Corporation of India Limited to hire container wagons. "So, it will not be a problem."
Mongla Port Authority handled 16,054 containers in fiscal 2021-22 and 7,830 containers in the first seven months of the last fiscal year, shows the port data.
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