The Bangladesh government has undertaken a new project to upgrade the railway services of the country.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved a budget of Tk 20 billion for the project.
Railways Minister Mujibul Haque told Bangla Tribune, "The project has been undertaken to ensure that the railways are more modern and comfortable.”
The government will be financing a little more than Tk 3.84 billion of the project and the rest of the Tk 14 billion financial assistance will be provided by UDCF, South Korea.
The project will be supervised by the railway ministry and is expected to be completed by Jun 30, 2021.
The government is set to procure 20 diesel-electric locomotives and 150 coaches for the project.
Currently, the Bangladesh Railways fleet consists of 282 locomotives and 1,165 carriages. Among them, 165 of the locomotives and 591 carriages are well above their commercial expiry date of 20 years.
The locomotives are in use for the sake of communications, although they have become expensive both in terms of maintenance cost and fuel.
The new locomotives and carriages are expected to boost the revenue of Bangladesh Railway significantly.