Tuhin Shubhra Adhikary

While Bangladesh Railways is already struggling with more than 70 percent of its locomotives being old, it may face further issues as two of its projects, to buy or overhaul 91 locomotives, are going to be cancelled.

An extension of the Bus Rapid Transit Line-3 beyond Dhaka airport is being considered to further facilitate operations and serve city-bound passengers.

An impasse over the upgradation of Dhaka-Chattogram Highway seems to be over as the Roads and Highways Department has started working to determine where the road will have six lanes and where it will have eight.

Japan, South Korea and the World Bank have expressed interests in financing the preparatory works for two more metro rail lines, said the authorities.

The government is going to expand the Chattogram Port Access Road up to six lanes to improve connectivity between the country’s largest seaport, the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway and the yet-to-open Bangabandhu Tunnel.

The construction work of Bangabandhu Tunnel under the Karnaphuli River saw a 99.5 percent completion. However, the tunnel is unlikely to come into operation before September due to the delayed decision to install vehicle scanners there.

Rail operation between Dhaka and Narayanganj is likely to resume early next month as laying of a new rail line between Kamalapur and Gendaria is almost complete.

To celebrate Eid with their loved ones, thousands left Dhaka yesterday on trains, buses, and launches, and their journeys were mostly free of hassles.

Coaches are overcharging people heading for the north by up to Tk 900, taking advantage of the Eid rush, poor monitoring, and no set fare for long-haul air-conditioned buses.

The government has asked the non-government organisations working on road safety to inform the authorities concerned before releasing data on road crashes and casualties.

Physical works of the country’s largest steel-arch bridge in Mymensingh are expected to start in August, as the authorities have almost completed the preparatory works.

Road crash data from two government agencies does not match and this could lead to problems in making informed decisions on road safety

The government has finally approved a guideline for the registration and operation of electric vehicles.

The World Bank in March last year approved a loan for the biggest road safety project in Bangladesh. The loan contract with Bangladesh authorities has to be signed within one and a half years of the approval, or else, the loan would be cancelled, said officials.

A new rail-plus-road bridge at Kalurghat in Chattogram is going to cost almost 12 times the initial estimate because the authorities spent nine years doing multiple feasibility studies and designing and redesigning the bridge.

The second Dhaka-Narayanganj rail line project, which is already running behind schedule, has run into major trouble as a contractor has sought to cancel the contract.

The Roads and Highways Department will build 24km of bypass roads and a flyover on Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar highway to eliminate bottlenecks in five town areas.

Bangladesh Railway is looking to build a new rail line to bring Sonamasjid land port under the country’s rail network.

Motorcycle sales declined by 30 per cent in Bangladesh in the past two months due to higher inflationary pressures and a draft policy that makes securing a driving licence mandatory before buying two-wheelers.

When the Road Transport Act-2018 was enacted over four years ago incorporating a system of demerit points on driving licenses for traffic violation, the authorities said the system would go a long way in ensuring road safety.