It has been more than a year since the Padma Bridge opened to traffic. Now the wait to cross the river by train is set to be over with Bangladesh Railway all prepared for passenger services from Dhaka to some of the southern districts.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the passenger trains from Kamalapur in the capital to Mawa in Faridpur’s Bhanga on Tuesday. She will travel by a train with 14 coaches, including a power car.

Travellers will have to wait three more weeks as the train services via the bridge will be available to them on Nov 1, said Sardar Shahadat Ali, additional director general of the Bangladesh Railway.

Three trains will use the bridge to travel to and from Khulna, Benapole, and Rajshahi first.

The Sundarban and Benapole expresses will run to Dhaka while the Madhumati Express will be running from Rajshahi to Rajbari.

“We’ll monitor the services and may increase the number of trains taking the bridge,” Shahadat said.

He also said the changes to the routes will not affect the current timetable of the trains. “We may need to coordinate a little in the timetables but no major changes are expected.”

The 169-kilometre broadgauge rail tracks from Dhaka’s Kamalapur to Jashore via Padma Bridge were constructed with a budget of Tk 392.46 billion. The project was rolled out in January 2016 and the construction began on Apr 27, 2018.

The government hopes the new rail link will further develop both national and international rail connectivity. The rail line has been constructed by the China Railway Group Ltd.

Once the trains start running via the Padma Bridge, the Munshiganj, Shariatpur, Madaripur, and Narail districts will be connected to the rail network across the country. Also, the Bhanga-Pachuria-Rajbari section will be connected directly to Dhaka via the bridge.

The project includes 169 kilometres of rail lines, 53.976 kilometres of loop and siding, and three lines of nearly 4 kilometres from Kamalapur to Gendaria. The total rail track length stands around 227 kilometres.

At least 23.37 kilometres of the rail tracks from Narayanganj’s Fatullah to Munshiganj runs over the viaduct. The total length of ramps stands at around 2 kilometres. As many as 60 large bridges, 272 culverts and underpasses and 29 level crossings have been constructed under the project.

It also includes 14 new stations. At least six old stations were revamped and 20 stations had modern signalling systems installed. Also, 100 passenger broadgauge coaches were brought under the project.

On Apr 4, a gang car crossed the railway track built on the Padma Bridge carrying Railway Minister Nurul Islam from Bhanga to Mawa via the bridge.

A trial train crossed the bridge on Sept 7 carrying passengers, including the railway minister, other ministers, MPs and journalists. It left Dhaka and reached Bhanga in less than two hours, taking only eight minutes to cross the Padma.

The fares for the new train services have not been fixed yet, but a committee recommended Tk 353 as the fare for travelling a 77-kilometre stretch from Dhaka to Bhanga.

Rabiul Islam, principal of Narail Government Victoria College, said the Padma Bridge eased travel to Dhaka.

“Communication will develop further once the train services are launched. Goods transportation will also be easier. We’re waiting for direct goods transportation services from Benapole Land Port to Dhaka. ”

Md Nazrul Islam, president of Faridpur Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said the Padma railway links will change the communication scenario for Faridpur and other districts in the southwest.

“More industries will be built in this region. It will benefit the entrepreneurs and create jobs for the youth.”

Anwarul Quadir, executive director of Sundarban Academy, said the train services will release some pressure on the road, bringing more comfort to the travellers.

If containers can be transported from Mongla port to Dhaka and other parts of the country, the transport cost will decrease, he pointed out.