Dhaka–Chittagong high-speed railway
First Bangladeshi high speed Railway
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The Dhaka–Chittagong high-speed railway was a proposed high-speed rail line connecting Dhaka, the capital and largest city, with the southeast harbour city of Chittagong. The project was estimated to cost ৳96,752 crore (US$11.4 billion).[1] The project was shelved cancelled in 2021 for economic reasons.[2]
| Dhaka–Chittagong high-speed railway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | (undeclared) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line number | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator(s) | (undeclared) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 227.3 km (141.2 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of tracks | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Electrification | 25 kV AC, 50 Hz, overhead catenary | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating speed | 300 km/h (190 mph) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The travel time between Dhaka and Chittagong would be 73 minutes for trains stopping at intermediate stations, and 55 minutes for nonstop trains. The ticket cost for one-way journey will be ৳2,000 without any discount or concession, more than three times higher than a conventional seat on current inter-city trains.[1]
History
On May 31, 2018, Bangladesh Railway signed an agreement with the China Railway Design Corporation and Mazumder Enterprise.[3] This contract is designed to verify the design and feasibility of proposed high-speed train lines. According to this agreement, feasibility and design work will be completed in December 2019 at a cost of Tk102.10 crore.[1][4] The government of Bangladesh is bearing this cost.[1][5]
It is expected to reduce travel time to between 55 and 73 minutes between Dhaka and Chittagong while current inter-city trains has to spend around six hours of travel time are needed to cover the distance by the current 321 km (199 mi) metre-gauge railways. The new route will be 227.3 km (141.2 mi), making the route 90 kilometres (55 mi) shorter.[a] 464.2 hectares (4.642 km2) of land will be needed to be acquired by Bangladesh Railway to implement the project.[1]
Chinese companies and the World Bank have shown interest in providing funding for the project through public–private partnership and build-own-operate models.[6][7][8]
The project was cancelled in 2021 for economic reasons.[2]