The inauguration ceremony of the Jamuna Rail Bridge, one of Bangladesh’s largest railway bridges, commenced with a grand event at Ibrahimabad Railway Station in Tangail at 10am on Tuesday (18 March).
Bangladesh Railway Secretary Fahimul Islam attended as the chief guest, alongside Japan’s Ambassador to Bangladesh, Saida Shinchi, and JICA Director General Ito Turki. The event was presided over by Bangladesh Railway’s Director General, Md Afzal Hossain.
Following the inaugural session at Ibrahimabad, the dignitaries were scheduled to travel by train to Saidabad Railway Station in Sirajganj, where the Jamuna Rail Bridge authorities would hold a press briefing.
According to railway project sources, the initial estimated cost of the bridge was Tk9,734 crore.
However, due to a two-year extension of the project timeline, the total expenditure surged to Tk16,780.95 crore.
Of this, 27.6% was funded domestically, while the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provided Tk12,149 crore in loans, covering 72.4% of the project costs.
Originally, the project was scheduled to run from July 2016 to December 2023.
However, its timeline was later extended. Approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on 6 December 2016, construction officially began on 29 November 2020 when ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina virtually laid the foundation stone.
Piling work for the bridge’s pillars commenced in March 2021.
