Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday (October 10, 2023) opened the Dhaka-Bhanga railway line, a part of which runs over Padma Bridge, in laying another milestone in the country’s infrastructure development. The opening of the 82-kilometre railway track from Dhaka to Faridpur’s Bhanga upazila under “Padma Bridge Rail Link Construction Project” fulfills the long-cherished dream of the people of the country’s southwestern districts. Bangabandhu's youngest daughter Sheikh Rehana was present in the grand ceremony presided over by Railways Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujan. Chief of Army Staff General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen and local MP (Munshiganj-2) Sagufta Yasmin Emily spoke on the occasion, while Railways Secretary Dr Md Humayun Kabir delivered the welcome speech. Read more: Southwestern districts cheer as Dhaka-Bhanga rail link via Padma Bridge opens Tuesday After formal unveiling of the newly built railway line over the country’s longest bridge, the prime minister boarded a special inauguration train to travel to Bhanga, where she was greeted by thousands of jubilant people. The work on the construction of the railway line was launched by the prime minister on October 14 last year. The railway line is being constructed in three phases (plus a 3km link being built between Dhaka and Gandaria): 37km Gandaria-Mawa section, a 42km Mawa-Bhanga section, and an 87km Bhanga Junction-Jashore section. Some 43.2km of loops, siding and Y-connections bring the total track length to 215.2km. The entire railway project from Dhaka-Jashore is scheduled to be completed by June, 2024. Read more: Chinese-built Padma Bridge benefits people's livelihood, boosts transformation of economic landscape in Bangladesh There will be 20 stations from Dhaka to Jashore, of which 14 are new and 6 are already there. The previous stations are also being modernised. Once completed, trains will be able to run at a speed of 120 to 130 kilometres. There will be no railway crossing anywhere on the Dhaka-Jashore railway line as underpasses are being constructed at each level crossing all the way from Dhaka to Jashore. The distance from Dhaka to Bhanga is about 82 kilometres. The new railway line from Gandaria in Dhaka has been added to the Padma Bridge via Keraniganj. Trains will be able to run from Kamalapur to Bhanga via Gandaria along the Dhaka-Narayanganj railway line. Under the project, 100 modern passenger coaches have already been purchased. New trains will be introduced by decorating the rakes with them. The Padma Bridge rail link project was approved on May 3, 2016. At that time, its construction cost was estimated to be around Tk 34,989 crore. When the project proposal was amended on May 22, 2018, the cost increased to Tk 39,247 crore. The cost may increase further, according to concerned authorities. The Padma Bridge rail link project is being constructed with Chinese funding, on the basis of G2G (government to government). Chinese contractor China Railway Engineering Group (CREC) is working on the project. China's Exim Bank is providing a loan of $ 266.79 crore to implement the project. The rest of the cost is being financed by the government of Bangladesh. Read more: PM’s Padma Bridge train journey: 11 individuals of different professions to accompany her

The wait of the people of southwestern districts will come to an end as the much-desired Dhaka-Bhanga railway connectivity via Padma Bridge will be opened on Tuesday (October 10, 2023). Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the 82-kilometre railway track from Dhaka to Faridpur’s Bhanga upazila under “Padma Bridge Rail Link Construction Project”. She is likely to go to Faridpur by train and will address a rally at 2 pm at Kazi Abu Yusuf Stadium in Bhanga Upazila headquarters, according to project officials. Project Director Brigadier General Syed Ahmed said already the trial runs of a passenger train and a freight train have been completed on the route successfully. Project details On October 14 last year, the prime minister opened the construction work on a rail link between Dhaka and Jashore under the ‘Padma Bridge Rail Link Construction Project.’ Read: Test run: Train reaches Faridpur’s Bhanga from Dhaka via Padma Bridge The railway line is being constructed in three phases (plus a 3km link being built between Dhaka and Gandaria): 37km Gandaria-Mawa section, a 42km Mawa-Bhanga section, and an 87km Bhanga Junction-Jashore section. Some 43.2km of loops, siding and Y-connections bring the total track length to 215.2km. The entire railway project from Dhaka-Jashore is scheduled to be completed by June, 2024. There will be 20 stations from Dhaka to Jashore, of which 14 are new and 6 are already there. The previous stations are also being modernised. Once completed, trains will be able to run at a speed of 120 to 130 kilometres. Read: Dhaka-Bhanga railway track via Padma bridge all set for trial run on Thursday There will be no railway crossing anywhere on the Dhaka-Jashore railway line as underpasses are being constructed at each level crossing all the way from Dhaka to Jashore. The distance from Dhaka to Bhanga is about 82 kilometres. The new railway line from Gandaria in Dhaka has been added to the Padma Bridge via Keraniganj. Trains will be able to run from Kamalapur to Bhanga via Gandaria along the Dhaka-Narayanganj railway line. Under the project, 100 modern passenger coaches have already been purchased. New trains will be introduced by decorating the rakes with them. The Padma Bridge rail link project was approved on May 3, 2016. At that time, its construction cost was estimated to be around Tk 34,989 crore. When the project proposal was amended on May 22, 2018, the cost increased to Tk 39,247 crore. The cost may increase further, according to concerned authorities. The Padma Bridge rail link project is being constructed with Chinese funding, on the basis of G2G (government to government). Chinese contractor China Railway Engineering Group (CREC) is working on the project. China's Exim Bank is providing a loan of $ 266.79 crore to implement the project. Read: ICC World Cup Trophy travels to Padma Bridge The rest of the cost is being managed by the government of Bangladesh. What people think about the rail link UNB Faridpur correspondent reports: The long-cherished dream of southwestern region's people including Faridpur, Gopalganj, Madaripur and Narail will come into reality through the opening of the rail connectivity. It will ensure safe journey of commuters from Dhaka to southwestern region at an affordable rate. Talking to UNB, Abul Foyez Shah Newaz, a freedom fighter, said “Once country's independence was a dream to us, the train movement over the Padma Bridge was also a dream for the people of this region and the dream has come into reality with the sincere efforts of the government.” Read: Padma bridge project cost increased further by Tk 1,117 cror

Bangladesh undertook the Padma Bridge construction project a decade ago with the dream of connecting the people of Southern Bangladesh with the capital Dhaka to speed up the economy. And the dream comes true as the bridge on mighty river Padma was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on June 25, 2022, expecting to fulfill the dreams of many people in Bangladesh. However, building such a big bridge with self-finance was not easy. But Bangladesh has surprised the whole world. With the inauguration of the Padma multipurpose bridge, one-third of Bangladesh has become connected to Dhaka by road. From the length of the Bridge to the number of pillars, many facts make the bridge comparable to a wonder. Let’s get to know some facts about Padma Bridge. Amazing Facts About Padma Bridge Build On a Continuous Stream of Water According to statistics, 1.40 lakh cubic meters of water can go to the sea every second through the Padma. The amount of water that flows into the sea through the Padma is the second highest in the world after the Amazon River. This continuous stream of water will pass under the Padma Bridge. So the system should be kept in such a way that the water can flow under the bridge without any interruption and go to the Bay of Bengal. Read: Padma Bridge to transform Bagerhat’s tourism industry If the water gets trapped in any way, it will flood upstream (west-north side of the river), and at the same time, this water will put a lot of pressure on the bridge. As a result, bridge failure can occur. Padma Bridge has been built keeping these things in mind. Long Piles The height of Padma bridge piles is 120-128 meters. That is, each pile is equal to a 40-story building. This is because, during the monsoon, when there is excess flow, the Padma River may scour 65 meters of soil, that means 65 meters of soil is washed away from the bottom of the river. No river in the world has the capacity to wash away so much soil. Hence, the piles of the Padma Bridge are so large to resist the sediment transport of the Padma during monsoons. In the history of bridge construction, the foundation of a bridge has never been built at such a depth anywhere in the world. Read Padma Bridge symbol of new Bangladesh: FM tells his Portuguese counterpart Germany Made Special Crane and Hammer Installing 120-128-meter-high piles is not a piece of cake. In the world, there is no such high pile placement machine. So special cranes and hammers were made from Germany only for the Padma Bridge. Can Survive Heavy Earthquake Another record of Padma Bridge is its ability to withstand earthquakes. The Padma Bridge can withstand an earthquake of 9 on the Richter scale without any complications. Heavy Bearing Each bearing between the span and pier of Padma Bridge has a weight of about 10,500 metric tons. No other bridge in the world has ever used such heavy bearings. The technology used here is base isolation, in which the foundation will move during an earthquake, but the bridge above will not move.  Read Shariatpur poultry farmers' dreams now stretch beyond Padma Bridge There will be a system of movement. This is called a pendulum bearing, which will help to slide the span and help to back again in place. It is used in many places in the world. However, it has never been used in such a large project. Due to this technology, the number of piles and size of pile caps is reduced to some extent. Vertical Bored Concrete Pile The piles below the two piers are slightly different, which are vertical bored concrete piles that are up to 80 meters deep. It means that these piles are not inclined but straight underwater. These are concrete piles, like the common columns of our houses. These piles are cast into the water, which means pouring concrete into the water. But the concrete does not float and becomes a column. River Training Another very important function of the Padma Bridge was river training, which was very challenging. There are very few companies in the world that can do this job. Sinohydro, the Chinese state-owned company, got this tender in July 2014.  Read Padma Bridge: Tk 4.19 crore toll collection breaks 24-hr record Alongside Padma bridge construction, the River dredging was started. Dredging is the removal of silt from the bottom so that there is less obstruction in the flow of water. So that more amount (higher volume of water) can go. It was expected that the pressure of water on the edge would be reduced a little. Dredging 10 million cubic meters at Mawa end. And 40 million cubic meters of dredging at the Jazira end. Another part of river training was placing stones, concrete blocks, and geo bags on the banks of the river. 8.5 lakh tons of stone were used at the Mawa end, and 30 lakh tons of stone were thrown at the Jazira end. 3,907,500 geo bags weighing 800 kg and 17,267,500 geo bags weighing 125 kg were dropped. A total of cement concrete blocks was 13,301,248. Due to the Padma Bridge, a 14 km area has come under river training. It is rare to find such a large area taken control for river training. Read Padma Bridge a symbol of pride for developing world: Hun Sen Exclusive Engineering Technologies Applied in Padma Bridge Rail Line The train will pass through the steel structure. The rail line is dual gauge. Therefore, the broad gauge and meter gauge, both types of trains, can cross the Padma Bridge. There will be emergency arrangements so that people can be alighted from the train and taken to a safe place in case of any kind of trouble on the train. Again, this is not an ordinary railway line. It has provision for double-decker containers to carry goods. Railways in Bangladesh usually take one container. But it is being done here so that in future trains can go with one container on top of another. It is the first ballastless rail track and is made with RCC instead of stone. The rail track is placed on a truss structure (the V-shaped steel structure). Read Parjatan's Padma Bridge package tour launched Final Words Padma Bridge is a symbol of political status, self-reliance, courage, determination, ability, and confidence. The construction of this Padma bridge is an ‘engineering wonder' in front of the whole world, an example of overcoming engineering challenges.