Expressway and Metro Rail Projects Prompt Changes to Underpass Plans

Bangla Press Desk:  A plan to construct underpasses to bypass impasse at level-crossings in the crammed capital city is obsoleted by expressway-and metro- rail infrastructures in different corridors, necessitating a fresh start.

Sources have said Bangladesh Railways has already revived its plan to construct bypass infrastructures after experiencing its impact in diluting the traffic jam at Kamlapur station after the opening of Titipara Underpass last year.

However, they feel that the authority has to do over again the feasibility study on the over pass-and underpass-infrastructure-construction project done during 2017-2019 that turns obsolete for not doing work in time.

"We have to review the feasibility study and find the viability of the construction of the overpass or underpasses at different rail gates as various infrastructures have already been developed or planned in the city," said an official in Railway's planning section.

Admitting no alternative than constructing underpass or overpass or parallel roads in the congested city to ensure uninterrupted movement of road and rail traffic at level-crossing points, he said the fresh technical project titled Narayanganj-Dhaka-Joydevpur Bypass Infrastructure Construction project will try to address all aspects and recommend potential spots.

According to BR, at least 50 level-crossings have been developed from Narayanganj to Joydevour due to both planned and unplanned construction of lanes and bylane roads.

Nine rail-crossings have been set up  within only a six-kilometre range from Tejgaon to Kamalapur station which cause to stop road-traffic movement every 15 minutes due to operation of trains to and from the main station at Kamalapur.

Frequent level-crossings have not only created problems in operating trains in due speed but also caused risks in movement of vehicles and pedestrians.

Recently the Traffic Management Committee in its 38th meeting at the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority conference room also laid importance on speedy implementation of the underpasses at all level- crossings to ease the severity of the traffic congestion in the centripetal city.

They said as the number of train operations is likely to increase using the corridor within a year or two after arrival of new coaches and locomotives, the city's traffic congestion would then worsen in the absence of bypasses. However, the BR officials shared the challenges in developing underpass in Malibagh, Maghbazar or Tejgaon areas due to development of Dhaka elevated expressways despite these being highly traffic-generated areas.

The preliminarily feasibility study done in 2018 found scope of underpasses at five points from Dhaka to Joydevpur, which would also need a review to find those opportunities.

After the construction of the Titipara underpass, traffic congestion in the Kamalapur-station areas, including Motijheel, Mugda, Sobujbag and Maniknagar, has improved significantly due to withdrawal of the level-crossing.

The construction of the 338-350-metre underpass was completed in two years at a cost of Tk 900 million by keeping totally closed the road under the Padma Rail Link project which was inaugurated in November 2025.

However, its impact on the speed of train operation on the Padma Rail Link corridor is yet to be realised for not full operation of the rail track with adequate number of trains in the southwestern region.

The BR official in the planning section told the FE that though the construction period for the underpass is little but completing the fresh feasibility study would take time as many other agencies have also been involved with the planning.

"The feasibility study will be completed after consultation with all related agencies, including two city corporations, roads and highways department, bridges division, local government engineering," he said.