DhakaâChittagong high-speed railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owner | (undeclared) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line number | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operator(s) | (undeclared) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line length | 227.3 km (141.2 mi) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of tracks | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electrification | 25 kV AC, 50 Hz, overhead catenary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operating speed | 300 km/h (190 mph) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The DhakaâChittagong high-speed railway is a proposed high-speed rail line connecting Dhaka, the capital and largest city, with the southeast harbour city of Chittagong. The project is estimated to cost ৳96,752 crore (US$11.4 billion). [1]
The travel time between Dhaka and Chittagong will be 73 minutes for trains stopping at intermediate stations, and 55 minutes for nonstop trains. The ticket cost for one-way journey will be ৳2,000 without any discount or concession, more than three times higher than a conventional seat on current inter-city trains. [1]
On May 31, 2018, Bangladesh Railway signed an agreement with the China Railway Design Corporation and Mazumder Enterprise. [2] This contract is designed to verify the design and feasibility of proposed high-speed train lines. According to this agreement, feasibility and design work will be completed in December 2019 at a cost of Tk102.10 crore. [1] [3] The government of Bangladesh is bearing this cost. [1] [4]
It is expected to reduce travel time to between 55 and 73 minutes between Dhaka and Chittagong while current inter-city trains has to spend around six hours of travel time are needed to cover the distance by the current 321 km (199 mi) metre-gauge railways. The new route will be 227.3 km (141.2 mi), making the route 90 kilometres (55 mi) shorter. [a] 464.2 hectares (4.642 km2) of land will be needed to be acquired by Bangladesh Railway to implement the project. [1]
Chinese companies and the World Bank have shown interest in providing funding for the project through publicâprivate partnership and build-own-operate models. [5] [6] [7]