Recent developments in the transport system of Bangladesh
- June 26, 2019
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A solid transport system is the epitome of development of a nation and Bangladesh has realized it in due time. Bangladesh has an array of recent developments and future projects in the transport network with roads, highways, railways, inland waterways, two maritime ports and several airports that serve both domestic and international traffic. This article looks at some of the recent achievements and ongoing projects in our transport sector.
Under the budget of the FY 2018-19, the transport and communication sector was allocated with around Tk 47, 831 crore, which is the biggest share of the development budget. This had amounted to 26.6% of the total development budget for that fiscal year.
Among the recent developments in road transport, the biggest highlight has to be the completion of the reconstruction of the three bridges of Kanchpur, Meghna and Meghna-Gumti. Reconstruction of all the three bridges were completed in May 2019, way before its deadline and activated on 25 May. Standing 1,410 meters long, the Meghna-Gumti Bridge is one of the longest bridges of Bangladesh. The project was carried out in joint-cooperation with Japanese firms.
Some delightful outcomes are awaiting in waterway transport as well. The Bangladesh Regional Waterway Transport Project is working on increasing the availability of navigation aids on the Project’s waterways from 30 percent to 95 percent by 2024. It will also result in reduced cargo vessel travel time from 40 hours to 30 hours on the Dhaka-Chittagong Corridor.
Furthermore, since 2012, the government newly built or rehabilitated 3,060 kilometers of tertiary roads under the Rural Transport Improvement Project. Currently there are 65 kilometers of new sidewalks with drainage, 21 foot-over-bridges, and 39 improved intersections in Dhaka city. Also, operation of traffic signals at 91 intersections of the city is also expected to be initiated.
However, the biggest highlight of development is the Metro Rail Service project, which is expected to start its services by the end of 2020. Generally known as The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), it is believed to be the solution to the traffic problems of capital Dhaka. This is going to be a chain of railway networks connecting various locations of Dhaka city. The phase of MRT is MRT 6, which is a 20 kilometer metro rail network stretching from Uttara to Motijheel. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) claimed that the MRT 6 line would operate every three minutes carrying 60,000 passengers every hour. There also are phase two and three consisting of MRT 1 (Dhaka Airport to Kamalapur), MRT 2 (Ashulia to Kamalapur), MRT 4 (Kamalapur to Narayanganj) and MRT 5 (Bhulta to Badda). The phase two and three are expected to be completed by 2035.
