Tuhin Shubhra Adhikary

As the Covid-19 infection rate is at its lowest in Bangladesh, more people are expected to be leaving the capital and other major cities for Eid this year after a two-year lull.

The government’s move to ensure uninterrupted traffic movement on the Dhaka-Aricha Highway is facing a setback as bus operators are not using the designated bus bays and service lanes built under a Tk 696 crore project.

The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) is going establish a dedicated Road Operation Unit (ROU) for the first time to manage and monitor a national highway efficiently.

The Akhaura-Agartala Rail Link, a Bangladesh Railway (BR) project, was supposed to be completed within December 2018.

Fewer than three percent of registered vehicles in Dhaka city are buses and minibuses, exposing the poor public-transport situation of the capital, where over two crore people live.

Bangladesh Railway (BR) is considering linking Shariatpur district headquarters with the railway network to implement the government’s plan of taking railway services to all districts.

The government has failed to formulate a new action plan for road safety, even though tenure of the previous one expired in 2020.

While the Roads and Highways Department says 44 of its ongoing projects will be wrapped up this fiscal year, documents reveal only three would end within their original deadlines.

Indecision, short-sightedness and piecemeal measures have long been plaguing the government plan to upgrade Dhaka-Chattogram corridor, considered the economic lifeline of the country.

Large LED displays will be set up on highways to notify road users about changes in road and weather conditions, including traffic congestion, accidents and foggy atmosphere. They can also get the information through a mobile app and a dedicated website.

Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) is going to get jurisdiction to carry out feasibility study and construction of the subway, a train-based mass transit system.

Bangladesh Railway (BR) has decided to carry out feasibility study on another railway route to explore whether electric train services can be introduced there.

The government is going to formulate a new law to regulate bus service using the franchise system, which is expected to bring discipline in Dhaka’s public transport sector.

Accidents on rivers and subsequent fatalities have seen a gradual increase over the last three years and experts see the authorities’ poor monitoring of the waterways operations as the main reason.

It may sound unusual that a project implementation agency will pay contractors the “retention money” while the project is running, as this is supposed to be paid after the completion of the works.

Bangladesh Railway (BR) is on course to procure 200 broad gauge (BG) passenger carriages to meet the ongoing crisis of rail engines and expand its services by adding new trains to its fleet.

Mitali Express, the third passenger train to be operated between Dhaka and West Bengal’s New Jalpaiguri (NJP) in India, is likely to start running within this month to boost connectivity between the two neighbours.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has asked the government to speed up preparatory works for five upcoming road projects, which are aiming to boost sub-regional connectivity.

The crisis over a Bangladesh Railway (BR) project to procure 70 metre-gauge (MG) locomotives is refusing to go away.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has already topped the lenders’ list of Bangladesh Railway (BR). But with several new projects coming up, the state-run transport agency has sought more loan from the bank.