DHAKA: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $1.5 billion to Bangladesh to build a dual-gauge railway line to facilitate key trade and tourism to the southern parts of Bangladesh. 

The new railway, part of the Trans-Asia Railway network, will also improve access to Myanmar and beyond.

An agreement was signed in this regard at National Economic Council (NEC) building in Dhaka on Wednesday (September 28).

Joint secretary of Economic Relations Department (ERD) Saifuddin Ahmed and ADB Bangladesh Resident Mission Portfolio Management officer in-charge Yoshinobu Tatewaki inked the deal on behalf of respective parties.

The Trans-Asia Railway, an initiative led by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, aims to provide seamless rail links between Asia and Europe to better connect people and markets. 

Markus Roesner, Principal Transport Specialist with ADB’s South Asia Department, said: “The planned 102-kilometer stretch of railway will connect the tourist town of Cox’s Bazar with the existing Bangladesh railway network”. 

The government is itself rehabilitating the 47-kilometer rail section between Chittagong and Dohazari.

Around 1.9 million tourists visit the beaches of Cox’s Bazar every year and with this expected to grow five percent annually as special tourist trains will operate between Dhaka and Cox’s Bazar along the new line.

Under a second phase, ADB expects to enhance the capacity of the upcoming rail line and finance extensions to the Myanmar border and to the planned deep-sea port on Matarbari Island, north of Cox’s Bazar. 

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. 

BDST: 1551 HRS, SEP 28, 2016
NJ/BD/SR