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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
"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