BM Report:
The Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to inaugurate Dhaka-Cox’s Bazar rail route on November 11.
Bangladesh Railway officials informed Business Mirror that construction of the new railway from Dohazari in Bangladesh’s main port city, Chittagong, to the country’s biggest tourist town, Cox’s Bazar, has almost been completed.
“We have planned to begin commercial trains on this route in December,” one senior official told Business Mirror. He informed me that one passenger train will be operated on this route from Dhaka at the beginning, and the number of trains will be increased by phases.
Railway sources told this reporter that the fare for a non-AC seat has been set at Taka 515, while for an AC seat it will be charged Taka 984. The rent for an AC seat will be taka 1,132, taka 1,363 for an AC cabin, and taka 2,036 for an AC berth, each including VAT at taka 2,036. The rail distance between Dhaka and Cox’s Bazar via Chittagong is 551 kilometers.
In the first phase, one train daily will depart from Dhaka at 10:30 p.m. and reach Cox’s Bazar at 6:40 a.m., with one stopover at the airport station in Dhaka and the other at the main city railway station in Chittagong. The train will again depart Cox’s Bazar at 1 p.m. and reach Dhaka at 9:10 p.m.The return train will reach the same stoppages. There will be no train service on this route on Tuesday, primarily, but the number of trains will increase in phases.
The train will have two dining coaches, one power car, three AC cabins, five AC chairs, six decorative chairs, and one non-AC first-seat coach. The number of seats during the journey from Dhaka will be 797, while on the return journey, 737 seats will be there. Dhaka-Cox’s Bazar train will be operated with coaches of BR’s special express train Turna Nishitha for the time being, and later special coaches will be collected.
The Bangladesh Railway has proposed several names for the train from Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar. The Prime Minister will choose one name. The names proposed are Prabal Express, Himachari Express, Inani Express, Labani Express, and Saint Martin Express.
