Khulna Railway station

Renovation work gets underway

Construction of the three-storied modern building of Khulna Railway Station and a yard at an estimated cost of Tk. 55.99 crore is underway, lawmaker of Khulna Sadar constituency and member of Standing Committee of Ministry of Railway, Mizanur Rahman Mizan, said at a recent views exchange meeting at Khulna Press Club.
Work on the project began in April last year and is expected to be completed by October 2016. Mizan said that the new Khulna station will be constructed on the lines of a foreign railway station with facilities like modern waiting room, restaurant, hotel, shopping complex, medicine corner, flowers shop, bakery, cyber café, telephone booth, recreation room and mosque.
The lawmaker said that the AL government, after coming to power, felt it necessary to develop infrastructure of Khulna Railway Station with a view to attracting more passengers. The project has been a long cherished dream of the people of the south-western region of the country.
Mizan said that Tk. 30 crore has been allocated in the current national budget only for remodeling the Khulna Railway Station and its yard. "So, there is nothing to be worried about as primary works for modernising the station have already begun."
Chief Engineer of the South Zone of Bangladesh Railway (BR), Md Mahbubul Haque Bakshi, said that the concerned ministry has already made a complete design of the modern Khulna Railway Rtation as per Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s directives. Bakshi urged the construction firm to expedite works and complete them within the specified time frame using standard materials.
Earlier on March 5, 2011, the PM, at a public meeting held at Khalishpur in the city, had promised that the AL government would build a modern railway station at Khulna to run along the Khulna-Dhaka double rail line, and Khulna-Dhaka commuter railway service as soon as possible.
The old Khulna station is plagued with problems such as lack of a good waiting room, toilet and safe drinking water as also an old booking counter, GRP office and ticket counter housed in an old building constructed during the British rule. The station does not have separate space for vehicle parking. The over-bridge is in a deplorable condition and in the absence of a good toilet, passengers especially women are facing a big problem.
According to sources, the last Caretaker Government, in 2007, undertook a Tk. 40 crore project for construction of modern railway station at Khulna under the name, Benapole Railway Station. The Ministry made a Development Project Profile (DPP) in 2007 with a view to completing the project by June 2009. Owing to scarcity of finance however, the project was not approved by the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) and remained frozen in red tape ever since.
Seven years later, in a revival of sorts, the project’s cost was increased to Tk. 84.49 crore from Tk. 40 crore with ECNEC approving the additional cost.

 

Khulna Railway station

Renovation work gets underway

Construction of the three-storied modern building of Khulna Railway Station and a yard at an estimated cost of Tk. 55.99 crore is underway, lawmaker of Khulna Sadar constituency and member of Standing Committee of Ministry of Railway, Mizanur Rahman Mizan, said at a recent views exchange meeting at Khulna Press Club. Work on the project began in April last year and is expected to be completed by October 2016. Mizan said that the new Khulna station will be constructed on the lines of a foreign railway station with facilities like modern waiting room, restaurant, hotel, shopping complex, medicine corner, flowers shop, bakery, cyber caf, telephone booth, recreation room and mosque. The lawmaker said that the AL government, after coming to power, felt it necessary to develop infrastructure of Khulna Railway Station with a view to attracting more passengers. The project has been a long cherished dream of the people of the south-western region of the country. Mizan said that Tk. 30 crore has been allocated in the current national budget only for remodeling the Khulna Railway Station and its yard. So, there is nothing to be worried about as primary works for modernising the station have already begun. Chief Engineer of the South Zone of Bangladesh Railway (BR), Md Mahbubul Haque Bakshi, said that the concerned ministry has already made a complete design of the modern Khulna Railway Rtation as per Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas directives. Bakshi urged the construction firm to expedite works and complete them within the specified time frame using standard materials. Earlier on March 5, 2011, the PM, at a public meeting held at Khalishpur in the city, had promised that the AL government would build a modern railway station at Khulna to run along the Khulna-Dhaka double rail line, and Khulna-Dhaka commuter railway service as soon as possible. The old Khulna station is plagued with problems such as lack of a good waiting room, toilet and safe drinking water as also an old booking counter, GRP office and ticket counter housed in an old building constructed during the British rule. The station does not have separate space for vehicle parking. The over-bridge is in a deplorable condition and in the absence of a good toilet, passengers especially women are facing a big problem. According to sources, the last Caretaker Government, in 2007, undertook a Tk. 40 crore project for construction of modern railway station at Khulna under the name, Benapole Railway Station. The Ministry made a Development Project Profile (DPP) in 2007 with a view to completing the project by June 2009. Owing to scarcity of finance however, the project was not approved by the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) and remained frozen in red tape ever since. Seven years later, in a revival of sorts, the projects cost was increased to Tk. 84.49 crore from Tk. 40 crore with ECNEC approving the additional cost.