Construction work of Padma Multipurpose Bridge under financing of Bangladesh Government is going on and targeted to be completed by middle of the year 2021. The Padma Multipurpose Bridge provides four lanes for road traffic on top deck and in bottom deck a Broad-gauge Single Railway Track. With the view to connect Dhaka with South-west part of the country within shortest possible period, construction of a rail link between Dhaka and Jessore earned prime importance.
Feasibility Study, Detailed Design and Tendering Services had been completed for Dhaka – Bhanga section while only Feasibility Study have been conducted for Bhanga – Jessore section by the Consulting Firm namely CANARAIL in JV with SMEC of Australia, DB of Germany and ACE of Bangladesh engaged under financing of Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Total route length is around 169 km which has been divided into four (4) sections, viz Section-1: Dhaka – Gandaria (3km), Section-2: Gandaria – Mawa (37km), Section – 3: Mawa – Bhanga Junction – Bhanga (42km) and Section -4: Bhanga Junction – Jessore (87km).
To operate trains up to Mawa from the DAY-1 over Padma Multipurpose Bridge, construction of Section-3: Mawa-Bhanga is targeted to be completed by the completion of Padma Multipurpose Bridge construction. As such Mawa, the eastern part of Padma Multipurpose Bridge, will be connected with the existing network of Western Zone of Bangladesh Railway through Bhanga-Faridpur-Pachuria-Rajbari section. Construction works of other three (3) sections will also be commenced at the same time to connect Jessore with the Capital City Dhaka via Padma Multipurpose Bridge.