High-Speed Rail: Ctg to have one station at Pahartoli

The alignment of the proposed high-speed train between Dhaka and Chittagong is likely to be changed.

As per initial plan, the 227.3km line was supposed to have six stations including two in Chattogram, Pahartoli and the existing station at the port city.

But, as per the new plan, the route would have five stations and a single station centering Chattogram would be set up near Pahartoli station.

This decision was made at a meeting yesterday after the consultants placed several options regarding the project, participants of the meeting said.

Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan and other top officials of the ministry and Bangladesh Railway were present at the meeting at the Rail Bhaban, they said.

Contacted, the railways minister said, "We have decided to build one station [in Chattogram] instead of two, as the distance between the two stations is around 4km."

Besides, the high speed rail line would be extended to Cox's Bazar and in that case, the extended line has to be go through Pahartoli, he told The Daily Star last night, adding, "So we have decided to drop the proposed station inside Chattogram main city."

He said this decision would reduce the total cost of the project, but the documents presented at yesterday's meeting showed that it would cost a little more.

The cost of the project would be $11.114 billion while it was $11.113 billion as per the existing plan, document shows.

The feasibility study of the first high-speed rail, commissioned by Bangladesh Railway, has already been completed. The route has also been selected and a draft report on the detailed design of the "passenger-dedicated" railway project has already been submitted.

Meanwhile, two Chinese companies have expressed interest in forming a joint venture to construct, operate, and manage funds for the line.

Once finished, the journey from the capital to the commercial capital will be slashed to just 73 minutes.

An uninterrupted journey between Dhaka and Chattogram will take only 55 minutes.

The trains, which will run at a top speed of 300km/hr, will have the capacity to carry approximately 50,000 passengers each way daily.

It will, however, not be cheap. With fares expected to be around the Tk 2,000 mark, more than three times the fare of an AC seat on existing Bangladeshi inter-city trains.

However, some transport experts termed the project "highly ambitious" and questioned the capacity of BR to operate the high-speed train, when it has not yet introduced electric trains.

NEW OPTIONS

The consultants, appointed for the feasibility study and detail design of the project, gave two options -- setting up one station or two stations as traffic hub for high-speed rail in Chattagram.

In their power-point presentation, they mentioned different aspects of setting up one station for high speed near the existing station or Pahartoli.

They said if the station for high-speed rail was built near the existing rail station, it would be more convenient for passengers.

But passenger distribution would be centralised, causing pressure on the urban transport, they said.

Besides, there is a high-density of residential buildings around the existing station and the proposed Cox's Bazar high-speed line would have to go through the urban areas, which would require large degree of demolitions and project implementation would be difficult, they said.

On the other hand, if the station is built on the right side of the exiting Pahartoli station, the extension of high-speed rail to Cox's Bazar would start from Pahartoli.

In that case, construction work would be easier and the main line would be shorter, they said.

But, the new station would be little far away from the city and the existing urban road connection would not be able to meet passenger demand, they said.

The existing 4.3km trunk road will need to be widened to six lanes, they said.

The total cost of the project with the station near existing station would be $11.063 billion while the Pahartoli's option would require $11.114 billion. The project cost with two stations in Chattogram would be $11.113 billion.

The another option, the consultant recommended for, is to build two stations in Chattogram—first one near the existing station in Chattogram for now and keep option at Pahartoli station for building another transport hub when the speed train line would be extended up to Cox's Bazar.

The total cost of the project with this option would be $ 11.093 billion.

The meeting decided to build one station at Pahartoli, sources said.