[Tmac]

DHAKA (AFP) - French and Japanese railway companies are among six candidates shortlisted by Bangladesh to build a billion-dollar high-speed train service linking the capital and port city of Chittagong, a senior minister said.

"We've shortlisted six foreign companies out of 10 which submitted the expression of interests to the Bangladesh Railway authorities," Communications Minister Nazmul Huda told AFP on Sunday.

Among the six are state-run French railways, SNCF, which operates the high-speed TGV trains and Japan Railways, which operates high-speed bullet trains, Huda said.

The minister said the government had already endorsed the project and hoped to complete the selection of the company for the country's biggest infrastructure investment this year.

"The company will have to lay a new track since the existing lines will not support the high-speed electric track," Huda said.

The electric train service will shorten the 267-kilometre (152-mile) trip between Dhaka and Chittagong from seven hours to one-and-a-half hours, he said.

Chittagong is Bangladesh's second biggest city with a population of more than five million. It is also Bangladesh's only port city, handling some 85 per cent of the country's 17 billion dollars in international trade.

The train link would run adjacent to the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, Bangladesh's main economic corridor and home to most of the country's industries.

"The electric train service is essential to the country's international trade competitiveness as it will shorten the time for export," Huda said.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=sto...a_afp/bangladeshjapanfrancetrain_050501104848

 

[Sen]

i dont get it, high-speed train can shorten the time for export?

i thought TGV and Shinkansen only transport people. not goods.

but anyways good news.

 

[Effer]

Just how fast is the train???

 

[UnitedPakistan]

i dont get it, high-speed train can shorten the time for export?

i thought TGV and Shinkansen only transport people. not goods.

but anyways good news.

Its a great idea if you think about it

Its actually a good idea for us to have when Gwadar is completed.

 

[snoq]

$112m Japanese loan for railway modernization

The country will get US$112 million soft loan from Japan for a railway sector modernisation project, official sources said.The Economic Relations Division (ERD) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the lending arm of Japanese government, recently finalised the terms and conditions of the loan at a nominal 0.1 per cent interest rate.

The loan will be used to implement four railway projects.They are transformation of the Laksham-Chinaka Astana single track to double-track, procurement of 10 locomotives, balancing, modernisation, rehabilitation and expansion (BMRE) of Pahartoli workshop and remodelling of the Chittagong station yard.

An agreement in this connection is expected to be signed between the two sides later this month, sources said.The government has taken the railway sector reform project worth $ 924 million aiming at transforming the Bangladesh Railway (BR) into a profit-making entity.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $430 million and World Bank $250 million.The government in February signed two agreements with the ADB and the WB for a total of $170 million loan to finance the first phase of the project.Of the sum, the ADB would provide $130 million and the WB $40 million.

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/search_index.php?page=detail_news&news_id=9920

 

[zayiaf62089]

good news about the railyway modernisation but Bangladesh needs a better way to collect railway fees. about 90% of the people riding in the trains are stoaways who sneak in without paying the fare.

 

[khalek]

It is a very good news that at least someone has decided to improve our railway system... @ zaiyaf bro.. You're absolutely right... but i dont think they will be able to do something about that because there are thousands of people riding in the Train..

 

[meghnarmajhi]

Wow... whenever I think of fast trains, I think of Japan and France ..... and yes ... in that order.

 

[tanzirian]

Wow... whenever I think of fast trains, I think of Japan and France ..... and yes ... in that order.

Germany has the highly regarded ICE train. Most of the wealthier European countries have excellent systems. But Japanese trains are the coolest looking, no doubt (my favorite model below):