Tianjin Port Photo: Courtesy of Tianjin Port Group

The first batch of Chinese-made passenger coaches for the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project in Bangladesh was shipped on Thursday, in a major move that will greatly promote regional connectivity and the economic development of Bangladesh.

The shipment was an initial batch of 15 out of the 100 coaches made by CRRC Tangshan Co, and it departed from the Port of Tianjin for Bangladesh, according to the Heibei Daily.

The coaches, designed to run at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour and with a broad gauge of 1,676mm, will be used in the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project, the largest railway project of China-Bangladesh cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

It marks the first time that welded dissimilar steel bodies with ferrite stainless steel as the main material are applied in exported passenger coaches, in order to cater to the natural environment and operational demand of Bangladesh.

The new wide-gauge railway coaches also feature new structures and technologies such as built-in side doors, split large ventilation shutters and ecological sanitation systems.

The 172-kilometer Padma Bridge Rail Link Project is scheduled to be completed in 2024. It is one of the most significant projects under construction by the China Railway Group (CREC) and funded by the Export-Import Bank of China, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Bangladesh's largest Padma Bridge opened to traffic in June. The huge infrastructure project, with the main bridge spanning 6.15 kilometers in length, is undertaken by China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group. It is the largest and most challenging infrastructure project in Bangladesh's history, Xinhua reported.

The rail link, which passes through the Padma Bridge, is a vital channel that connects the trans-Asian railway network, and it is expected to greatly promote regional connectivity and the economic development of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is a major destination for overseas contracts by Chinese infrastructure companies with projects to improve the transportation infrastructure and promote its vital role in regional connectivity.

On November 12, the construction of a mega China-funded elevated expressway project, the 24-kilometer Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway, was inaugurated.

The project, with an estimated cost of $1.72 billion, was approved in a bid to enable quick entry and exit of vehicles to and from Dhaka and facilitate transit trade with regional countries, according to Xinhua.

Global Times