Railway Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujan today said direct train service from Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar will be launched in December 2022.
“We hope that travel-loving people will be able to go to Cox’s Bazar by train from next year as construction of Cox’s Bazar section railway line will be completed by December 2022,” he said while laying the foundation stone of the iconic railway station in Cox’s Bazar.
The project is scheduled to complete by June 2022, but people will be able to travel to Cox’s Bazar by train next year’s December, the minister said.
“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given priority to deprived railway sector and has been developing it extensively. Many projects are underway in the railway sector now. Actually, restructuring of the railways has been going on since 2011,” he said.
Sujan said Dohazari to Cox’s Bazar railway line construction is a mega project of Bangladesh Railway.
This project will be extended from Cox’s Bazar to Gundum near Myanmar via Ramu, which will be extended to China in future, he added.
The minister mentioned that the Cox’s Bazar railway lines would expedite the tourism sector, adding, “This project is being carried out plan-wise.”
Cox’s Bazar railway station will be an iconic station building at a cost of Taka 215 crore, which will have an international dimension that will attract a large number of domestic and foreign tourists, he said.
“It will have a six-storey oyster-shaped railway station having international facilities,” the railways minister said.
Local lawmakers Zafar Alam, Saimum Sarwar Kamal, Kaniz Fatema Ahmed and Nadira Yasmin Jolly, railways secretary Md Selim Reza and deputy commissioner Md Mamunur Rashid also spoke on the occasion. Director General of Bangladesh Railway Shamsuzzaman presided over the function.
