Bangladesh Railway edit
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Bangladesh Railway edit
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Bangladesh Railway began in 1862. In the same year it opened 53.11 kilometers broad gauge line for traffic on 15 November between Darsana and Jagiti. The next 14.98 kilometers meter gauge line was opened for traffic on 4th January 1885. In 1891, the construction of then Assam-Bengal Railway was taken up with British Government assistance but that was later on taken over by the Assam-Bengal Railway Company. On 1 July 1895, two sections of meter gauge lines were opened between Chittagong and Comilla, a length of 149.89 kilometers and between Laksam and Cahndpur, a length of 50.89 kilometers. Railway Companies formed in England took up the construction and operation of these sections in middle and late 19th century. 1Bangladesh Railway was mostly inherited from the British-established Assam Bengal railway system after the partition of India in 1947. Railway acts as an important method of mass transport in Bangladesh. Many districts of the country are connected via railways. At present Bangladesh Railway has got 2855 route kilometers.
Bangladesh Railway's headquarters are located in the southern port city of Chittagong, which had historically been the south-eastern terminus of the Assam-Bengal Railway. After independence from Pakistan in 1971, only a small length of additional new tracks were laid .
As of 2005, the total length of railroad is 2,706 km.2 Of that, 923 km are broad gauge (1.676 meter) tracks (mostly in the western region), while the remaining 1,822 km are metre gauge tracks (mostly in the central and eastern regions). The gauge problem is being tackled by adding third rails to the most important broad and metre gauge routes, so that they become dual gauge.
A major road-rail bridge at Jamuna opened in 1998 to connect the previously isolated east and west rail networks.
As of March 2008, the broad gauge reached Dhaka the national capital, though only up to Dhaka Cantonment,DOHS Baridhara.
Funding is being sought to upgrade the network and transform Bangladesh Railway into a profitable business.3
The border between India and Bangladesh cuts across rail lines, forcing them into the other country for short distances. This complicates border controls such as passport validation.
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The Railway bifurcated into two zones, East & West, under the administrative control of two general managers, who are responsible/ accountable to the Director General of Bangladesh Railway.
India - yes. Bi-weekly passenger train service between Dhaka and Kolkata started in April 2008 using the Gede-Darsana route4 In addition there is freight train service from Singhabad in India to Rohanpur in Bangladesh, Petrapole to Benapole, Radhikapur to Birol and Mahisasan to Shahbazpur.
Myanmar - no - not yet - 1000mm/1676mm gauge in Bangladesh and 1000mm in Myanmar.
A train ferry goes from: