Tk 3602cr project okayed for expanding railway services
ECNEC clears total 14 projects involving Tk 16,147cr
UNB
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC)yesterday approved 14 projects, including one to improve and expand the railway services by collecting 40 diesel electric locomotives, 125 luggage vans 700 covered wagons, 300 Bogie open wagons, reports UNB.
The approval came from the last ECNEC meeting of the outgoing fiscal year, held at the NEC conference room in the capital with ECNEC Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
Today, ECNEC approved 14 projects with an estimated cost of Tk 16,147.07 crore, said Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal while briefing reporters after the meeting.
Of the total cost, Tk 13,283.64 crore will come from government funds, while Tk 2,839.54 crore as project assistance and the rest Tk 23.89 crore from the organisations own funds.
Of the 14 projects, nine are new while the rest five are revised ones.
About the railway project, the planning minister said the Bangladesh Railway Rolling Stock Operation Development (Rolling Stock Collection) Project involving the estimated cost of Tk 3602.07 crore has been taken to expand the railway services.
He said the main activities of the project include collection of some 40 broad-gauge diesel electronic locomotives, 75 metre-gauge luggage vans and 50 broad-gauge vans, 400 metre-gauge and 300 broad-gauge bogie covered wagons, and 180 metre-gauge and 120 broad-gauge open wagons, and providing training over maintaining luggage vans and service engineering.
Under the project that will be implemented by June 2021, the existing old and dilapidated rolling stocks (locomotives, carriages, wagons, or other vehicles used on a railway) will be replaced with the new ones.
The planning minister said Bangladesh Railway now has 180 meter-gauge locomotives and 94 broad-gauge locomotives. Of the broad -gauge ones, some 39 locomotives have economic life while the rest of the locomotives are 30-year-old ones.
According to the Planning Commission, Bangladesh Railway operates 88 different types of broad-gauge trains every day considering the technical aspects. There is now a demand for additional 25 percent locomotives or 110 broad-gauge locomotives.
Besides, the Bangladesh Railway has some 53 meter-gauge luggage vans of which 48 luggage vans are 47-year old ones, though their economic life is 35 years.
