Published : 28 Jun 2025, 04:54 AM
Updated : 21 Aug 2026, 01:27 PM
Bangladesh Railway authorities have begun dismantling the disused rail track from the eastern end of the Jamuna Bridge, marking the start of a two-month project to replace it with extended road space.
Since the new railway bridge adjacent to the Jamuna Bridge was opened, the old rail line on the bridge has remained unused.
Now, it is finally being cleared to make way for an expanded road section, which will allow increased vehicle movement across the structure, according to the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA).
The removal work began on Thursday from the bridge’s eastern side and is expected to take at least two months to complete, said Birbal Mondal, divisional engineer of the West Zone Railway in Pakshi.
Speaking on Friday afternoon, he said the new railway bridge, located 300m north of the Jamuna Bridge, was inaugurated on Mar 18 this year, and since then, all trains have been rerouted through the new structure.
“As the rail track has been out of use, the government has ordered its removal,” said the engineer.
Executive Engineer Ahsanul Kabir Pavel from the Jamuna Bridge Site Office explained that the removal would free up an additional 3.5m of space.
“We’ll connect that portion to the main road section of the bridge. This will widen both sides by 1.75m each.”
He added, “A technical study will be undertaken to initiate a project for widening the bridge road. Implementing this will take some time.
“At present, the road lanes measure 6.3m; after expansion, they will be 8m wide.”
This, the engineer hopes, will ease congestion and reduce public suffering on the bridge.
The Jamuna Bridge was inaugurated on Jun 23, 1998 without a rail line.
A steel-angle-supported rail section was later installed on the northern edge, and train services across the bridge began on Aug 15, 2004.
By 2006, cracks appeared on the bridge due to the high-speed train operations.
As a result, the speed limit for trains was slashed to 20kmph, which meant each train needed 22 minutes to cross the bridge, causing major backlogs on both ends.
To resolve the issue, the government took up the plan to build a separate railway bridge 300m north of the original one on Mar 3, 2020.
The foundation stone for the project was laid on Nov 29, 2020, and construction began in March 2021.
The new railway bridge was opened to traffic on Mar 18, 2025, with a total expenditure of Tk 167.8 billion.
