| Project Detail |
Project Name
Improving the Operational Efficiency of Bangladesh Railway
Project Number
57296-001
Country / Economy
Bangladesh
Project Status
Approved
Project Type / Modality of Assistance
Technical Assistance
The TA will support the Bangladesh Railway to improve its operational efficiency and financial sustainability, and strategic planning for conversion from meter-gauge to broad gauge track.
Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy
The railway in Bangladesh offers safer, more energy-efficient, reliable travel, and has a lower environmental impact than other modes of transport. The Bangladesh Railway (BR) has 3,093 route-kilometers of network with 489 stations, which connect 43 districts and almost all commercially significant parts of the country. Although both passenger and freight traffic are growing, the operation of BR is constrained by mixed factors including gauge gap of track, shortage of rolling stock, patchwork and outdated signaling systems, and infrastructure, maintenance facilities, and rolling stock operating beyond their economic lives.
The BR is planning to unify its track gauges to the broad gauge, which is another measure to improve operational efficiency. For the unification of the gauge, BR is building dual gauge track as a transition from 2 meter gauge to broad gauge. Currently, broad gauge is deployed in western regions while meter gauge is applied in eastern regions, with some sections of dual gauge for inter-operability.
The TA aims to have three outputs, namely, (i) support for operational efficiency improvement, (ii) support for transition plan from meter gauge to broad gauge, and (iii) a knowledge product of lessons learned from previous projects.
Impact
A strategic railway modernization and upgrading process would be institutionalized. |
