Today, an Agreement was signed between Bangladesh Railway (BR) and Balaji Railroad System Limited, an Indian firm to restore the 51.53 kilometer Kulaura-Shahbazpur railway line.

M Mozammel Haque (GM of BR east) and the Corporate Head (Commercial) of Balaji Railroad System Limited were the representatives of their respective sides who signed the agreement.

M Mazibul Haque, Railway Minister of Bangladesh and Feroz Salauddin, secretary-in-charge of the ministry were present during the signing of the agreement.

The cost of this project is expected to be about Taka 678 crore while the project assistance would cost about Taka 556 crore.

This topic had been a major point of discussion since 2013. The Bangladesh government worked gradually and now the deal is finalized.

The BRSL was shortlisted after going through intense discussions with a total 6 companies from India who displayed interest in the project.

M Shaidul Islam, the Project Director, said that the cost has been increased to a significant amount because of the development of the double-line track. Six new stations will be made on the Kulaura-Shahbazpur section. It will be used to facilitate transportation between Bangladesh and eastern states of India.

The spokesperson said that the project would complete within a period of 30 months as per the Indian line of credit.

After the event, M Mazibul Haque, Pankaj Saran (Indian High Commissioner), and Amjad Hossain (BR director) talked about the same to the media.

According to the official statement, with the revival of the railway line, the connection among Sylhet, Comilla and Assam (Indian state) will be re-connected.

The foundation of the project was laid by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina when the former made his visit to Dhaka on 6th June 2015.

Earlier, the railway line used to connect India and Bangladesh but it stopped in 1965. Since then, all the valuables, including railway sleepers, nuts, and bolts have been stolen due to the negligence of the authorities.

First published on Agreement Signed To Rehabilitate Kulaura-Shahbazpur Rail