The first test run of a train on the Padma Bridge was successfully conducted on Tuesday, 10 months after the inauguration of the country’s longest rail-road bridge.

The test train with five passenger coaches departed from Bhanga station at 1:21pm and stopped at the Mawa station at 3:18pm after travelling 42.20 Kilometer rail route.

Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan inaugurated the trial run of the train at Bhanga station.

The train was travelling in a very slow speed than specified pace due to safety reason on the day of first trial run.

Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan, Chief Whip Noor-e Alam Chowdhury Liton, Deputy Minister for Water Resources Enamul Haque Shameem, Local MPS including Nixon Chowdhury, Abdus Sobhan Golap and Iqbal Hossain Apu, Secretary and Senior Officials of the ministry and Project Director of the Padma Rail Bridge Construction Project, a good number of journalists and local people travelled by the train.

The 169-km railway route from Dhaka to Jashore via Bhanga and Narail over the Padma Bridge is being constructed under the Padma Bridge Rail Link project and it is scheduled to open in June, 2024.

According to the Railways Ministry, the overall physical progress of Tk 39,246.8-crore Padma Bridge Rail Link project is 75 percent.

Among three parts of the Rail Link project, the progress in 42-km Bhanga-Mawa section is 91 percent, while Dhaka-Mawa section is 74 percent and the Bhanga-Jashore section is 68 percent.

It is expected that the rail service can be started from Dhaka-Bhanga within August next.

A total of 100 passenger rail coaches will be collected to ply on this railway route. Of these, 45 coaches have already been collected.

The rail link is going to set another milestone for the country’s railway communication as it will establish alternate rail connectivity between Dhaka and Jashore-Khulna with a 212.05 km shorter route.

Fourteen new stations and 66 major bridges are being constructed, six old stations are being reconstructed for the railway route.