Dhaka: The government has taken up a plan to bring all the country’s 64 districts under railway network within a few years, aiming to build a comfortable and safer transportation system across the country.

Railways Minister Mujibul Haque said that works on a number of projects will start within three and a half years to achieve the target, while works on 48 projects under the expansion plan are already underway.

Talking to the news agency, Director General (DG) of Bangladesh Railway (BR) Md Amzad Hossain said on successful completion of the ongoing 48 projects, the BR will be able to carry approximately 3lakh passengers every day against the current capacity of carrying 1.8lakh passengers.

At least 8 projects will be completed with June this year, the DG added.

The 48 projects include construction of double lines on Dhaka-Chittagong route, two duel gauge lines on Dhaka-Tongi route, one duel gauge line on Dhaka-Narayanganj route and a duel gauge double line on Tongi-Joydebpur route.

Apart from this, a study is underway to set up 164.21 km double line on Joydebpur-Ishawardi route with financing from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) while another project study to set up a duel gauge double line over the Jamuna River, some 300 meters off the Bangabandhu Bridge, has completed.

The Railway Minister also said a total of 270 coaches—150 financed by ADB and 120 by India—are going to be added to the BR fleet while the process of bringing 100-meter gauge locomotives, with the financing of UDCF, South Korea and ADB, is underway.

He said the new projects of setting up 571.30 km rail tracks include 78.80 km on Ishwardi-Pabna route which is expected to end in 2016, 5.75 km on Paturia-Vanga, 50.41 km on Gopalganj-Tungipara and another track from Navaran to Satkhira-Munshiganj, which are being financed by the government.

The minister also said the e-ticket system, train information digitalisation system and train information display system have been launched for providing better services to the passengers.

The minister said the present government undertook a 20-year long master plan in 2009 to improve the railway services.

Under the master plan, a total of 46 new projects involving Tk 27, 398 crore and 39 revised projects involving Tk 18025.34 crore have been approved while 24 projects under the plan have been completed.

Mujibul Haque said there are now around 2877 km of rail road connecting 44 districts through 334 trains.

He said two more railway zones—South zone and North zone—will be established alongside the existing East and West zone to expand the railway services.