Dhaka: Bangladesh Railway will build an Inland Container Depot in Gazipur to facilitate the transportation of readymade garment (RMG) production directly from the factories in the district to the port city of Chittagong.

Railways Secretary (acting) Mansur Ali Sikdar said the ministry had decided to construct ICD at Dhirashram, Gazipur to encourage the RMG owners to use the railway services in sending their consignments to Chittagong.

Although a huge number of garment factories are operating in Tongi and Gazipur, most of the factory owners prefer to send their export consignments to Chittagong port by trucks as the alternative to sending the consignments by freight trains via Kamalapur railway station in the capital, which consumes too much time.

A Chinese firm can be hired for the project, he hinted.

The acting Railways Secretary noted that the construction of the ICD in Gazipur will make the transportation of RMG goods by freight trains easier compared to road transportation, and that this will boost BR’s revenue income in the coming days. ‘The lion’s share of BR’ s revenue comes from goods transportation,’ he added.

Besides, the Dhaka-Chittagong route will be upgraded to a double-line one to make sure that travel and goods transportation in the route become quicker, said the acting Railways Secretary.