Dream Train in the City of Oysters

Cox’s Bazar Rail Station has been built as a modern marvel for travelers.

The new ‘green field’ of railway alignment has connected Cox’s Bazar, the top tourist destination and a rapidly developing region in Bangladesh. Finally, the long-term dream of tourists has been fulfilled. On November 11, 2023, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the 102-kilometre dual gauge single railway line between Cox’s Bazar and Dohazari in Chattogram and the newly built Cox’s Bazar iconic rail station in the shape of oyster shell. The architect of the station, Mohammad Foyez Ullah, principal architect of Volume Zero Limited, took inspiration from the shape of an oyster for its exterior, which symbolises the beach. It is a station with marine atmosphere at first sight. With this, not only has the country’s leading tourist destination become more easily accessible, the entire southeast region is also poised for boosting trade and connectivity. The rail link project, the latest among several such communication-related projects, is part of an elaborate development scheme focused on Cox’s Bazar. Enhanced connectivity will be crucial for transportation of goods to and from Teknaf land port, as well as the growth of local industries including fish, salt, rubber raw materials, forest and agriculture products and dried fruits, according to local business experts. There are nine railway stations on this route, which means the surrounding areas will also see economic transformation. After Cox’s Bazar to Chattogram the stations are followed by Ramu, Islamabad, Dulahajara, Chakaria, Harbang, Lohagara, Satkania and Dohajari. The rail line will be extended to the Myanmar border, and to the planned deep-sea port on Matarbari Island. The extended part will have three stations – Ukhia, Teknaf and Ghumdhum (Bandarban).

Cox’s Bazar Station to enhance tourists’ experience

Nestled on a 29-acre expanse in Chanderpara, under the Jhilongjha union in Cox’s Bazar Sadar upazila, stands the paradise sighting station, located three km away from the sandy beach, built at a cost of Tk 215 crore. The six-storied building, covering 187,000 square feet area, captivates visitors with its unique exterior. The canopy serves a dual purpose — not only enhancing the station’s aesthetic appeal but also effectively cooling the building, ensuring proper air circulation, and welcoming ample natural light, according to the project engineers. Adding to the visual allure, a variety of coloured lights grace the front of the building, providing an artistic perspective to the station’s entrance. This station is Asia’s first 100 per cent tourist-friendly central air-conditioned multi-storied station. It has all kinds of facilities for tourists. Arrangements have also been made so that tourists can visit Cox’s Bazar in a day and return the same day without hotel accommodation. This railway is perfect Cox’s Bazar as an international tourist hub. It will be helpful to bring foreign tourists. Not only in the winter, tourists will be encouraged to visit Cox’s Bazar throughout the season including monsoon. In the construction of this iconic station, facilities of various modern stations of the world including China, Belgium, England, and Italy have been taken into consideration. A total of 250 engineers and more than 600 people, including 110 foreigners, were working in the entire project. After four years of hard work, the uniquely beautiful railway station building is visible today.

On the ground floor, ticket counters, arrival and VIP lounges, ATM booths, Bank and forex service, pharmacy, post office, railway service office, baby care centre, information booth, and luggage lockers. The first floor offers a departure lounge, waiting lounges, display centres, locker room, prayer space, shops, and a cafe. Levels 2 to 5 house a shopping mall and food court, bookshop, five-star overnight stay option with dining, office spaces, restaurants, a multipurpose hall and hotel with recreational space for passengers. The hotel has 39 rooms.

The fourth floor is intended to be leased for offices and conferences. Top floor reserved for future use. Travelers arriving at Cox’s Bazar by overnight train can conveniently store their belongings in lockers and explore the beach and other tourist spots during the day before catching a night train back to Chattogram or Dhaka. Tourists can leave their luggage in station lockers while they enjoy their time sightseeing at the beaches and tourist sites. Around 500 tourists will be able to keep their luggage in the station lockers at a time. As a result, tourists would be able to leave Cox’s Bazar without staying at night in hotel. However, they have to pay locker rent for this. The station is equipped with ample amenities, including escalators, lifts, parking area and refresh rooms for men, women, and those with physical disabilities. Accessing any of the three platforms is made easy with a footover bridge connected to escalators, staircases, and a ramp bridge facilitating movement between platforms. The rail station also features separate facilities for women, children, the elderly people.

The Cox’s Bazar station has the capacity to transport around 50,000 people each day, as well as facilitate the operation of wagons for transporting fish, dried fish, salt and other items. Work of the project is being completed in two parts with China Railway Engineering Cooperation (CREC) and Toma Construction carrying out the first part from Dohajari to Chakaria and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and Max Infrastructure Limited are doing another part from Chakaria to Cox’s Bazar.

Additional Deputy Inspector General of Tourist Police Cox’s Bazar region Apel Mahmud said the arrival of tourists in Cox’s Bazar will increase, thanks to the train service. All kinds of preparations have been made for the service and safety of tourists, he added. Passengers say the journey is enjoyable. A crooked rail line has been built through the green field and forest. Sometimes the hills touch, sometimes the eyes will be drawn to the unique beauty of the green village of Bangladesh. A hundred kilometers of railways has completed to see such a scene. Every station is equipped with relay batteries, generator rooms, sewage and waste management facilities, and energy-saving features such as solar panels. Both meter and broad gauge rail coaches would operate on this route. Mixed dual gauge rail track is constructed from Dohajari to Cox’s Bazar. On this route, it will be possible to run high-speed (120 km/hr) train from Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar. Md. Taijul Islam, senior engineer of Max Infrastructure Limited, construction partner of the project, said the newly constructed rail station boasts modern facilities comparable to those found in international airports. Two pair of non-stop intercity trains are running on this route now. The “Coxbazar Express” leaves Dhaka at 10:30pm and reaches Cox’s Bazar at 7:20am the next day without Mondays. It starts at 12:30pm to return from Cox’s Bazar and reaches Dhaka at 9:10pm the same day. On the other hand, The 785-seat capacity “Parjotak Express” departs Dhaka’s Kamalapur station at 6:15am and reaches Cox’s Bazar at 3:00pm, making stoppages at the Airport station in Dhaka and Chattogram station only. Departing Cox’s Bazar at 8:00pm, the train reaches Dhaka at 4:30am. The train service remains closed on Sundays. The trains are operating with a rack of 16 coaches imported from Korea. The distance from Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar is 470 kilometres, while Dhaka is 320 kilometres away from Chattogram. The AC-class fare for Dhaka-Cox’s Bazar service of the trains has been set at Tk 1,325 while the non-AC class fare is Tk 695. The AC fare from Chattogram to Cox’s Bazar is Tk 470 and non-AC Tk 250. Two pairs of Commuter Train will be launced on the Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar route in February.

HISTORY

Delicious tea of Sylhet and Assam were on the high list of British traders in India. The then British government felt it necessary to extend the railway to Chattogram to take advantage of the use of the port for tea transport and export. The main purpose of construction of a meter gauge railway from Dibrugarh (Assam) to Chattogram in the then Bengal was to ensure smooth trade. It was incorporated to serve the British-owned tea plantations in Assam. The Assam-Bengal Railway Company was formed in Chattogram in 1892 after about seven years of feasibility study and survey by the then government from 1881 to 1887. After the debut of this company, a 93-mile (150 km) meter gauge railway line was laid from Chattogram to Cumilla. The railway was inaugurated on 1 July 1895 and the Chattogram town to Chattogram port section was opened on 3 November the same year. The Cumilla-Akhaura-Kulaura-Badarpur section was opened in 1896-1898 and finally extended to Lumding in 1903. The development of the modern Chattogram port began after the first shipment of tea arrived in the Chattogram port in the wagons of the Assam-Bengal Railway. The Assam-Bengal Railway’s jurisdiction was undeveloped territory. The contribution of these railways to establish station-based small towns and business centres in the region is immense. The Chattogram-Hathazari section, which started in 1929, was taken up to Nazirhat in 1930. In 1931, a new section, Sholasahar-Dohajari, was opened on the existing line. Based on this branch line, the British government planned to expand the railway line to Rangoon through Akiab port of Burma in today’s Myanmar by laying a railway line on an inaccessible route after Dohazari station. Today’s idea was thought hundred years ago. This line is the basis for connecting to the Trans Asian Railway Corridor. The journey of the Assam-Bengal Railway which started in 1895 was completed in 1904 and continued till 1942. In 1942, the Assam-Bengal Railway and the Eastern Bengal Railway merged to form a new company called “The Bengal and Assam Railway”. The Assam-Bengal Railway of the 19th century has now turned into the “Bangladesh Railway”. The British realised that Assam province even whole Northeast India would never survive without East Bengal and Chattogram port

The dream woven hundreds of years ago is a visible reality today. The Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar railway was launched with the aim of connecting the Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) Corridor, bringing the tourist city of Cox’s Bazar under the railway network, building a cost-effective and environment-friendly communication system for domestic and foreign tourists and local people, and transporting goods easily at low cost. Before construction started in 2018, the government took the initiative in 2010, to construct a 102-km railway line from Dohazari in Chattogram to Cox’s Bazar via Ramu and another 28-km from Cox’s Bazar (Ramu) to Ghumdhum (Bandarban) on the Myanmar border for direct rail connection with the capital Dhaka and the popular tourist city Cox’s Bazar. Initially, the cost of this project was estimated at Tk 1,852 crore, but later it increased to Tk 18,500 crore. A total of 183 water crossings, including 39 bridges and 144 culverts are constructed in this line. TAR would connect the country’s railway system to a 81,000-km network stretching from Europe to East and South-East Asia. Starting from Turkey, the TAR would link Bangladesh with six countries of East Asia including Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore, and also with Europe through Turkey. Bangladesh signed the Inter-governmental Agreement on the TAR Network on 9 November, 2007. But Dhaka still needs to sign bilateral agreements to make the network operable, officials said. However, the work of 28 km from Ramu to Myanmar boarder is not going on now. Railway officials said this work is not possible if relation with Myanmar does not improve soon. Project Director of Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar Rail Line, Mohammad Mofizur Rahman said, “This railway line opens a new horizon in the tourism sector of Bangladesh. The tourists get the chance to travel to the world’s longest sandy sea beach by a luxurious train service at a low cost.” It will help the country meet its targets under its 8th five-year plan and its railway master plan, which aim to raise the country’s railway freight market share to 15 per cent and its passenger market share to 10 per cent, he added. He further said, “This project is one of seven investment sub-projects being undertaken by the Bangladesh Railway to improve the country’s rail connectivity with other Asian countries.” The railway is part of the Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) network and will improve access to Myanmar and beyond, according to project documents. This rail is to reach China’s Kunming via Ghundhum and Myanmar. Work on 28-kilometre rail track on Cox’s Bazar-Ghundhum remains halted. Since Myanmar does not agree to the project, the government will implement this part of the project later.

Mr. Mofizur Rahman said complexity arouse over acquiring land at the beginning. About 15 kilometres of rail track are crossing through Chunti reserved forest area so they had to abide by many rules. A 50-meter-long overpass and three underpasses are being made for normal and comfortable movement of elephants and other wild animals by cutting and leveling the hill during the construction of the railway. The tourism industry is recognised as one of the largest industries in the world today. To facilitate the travel of tourists from home and abroad to Cox’s Bazar, the rail communication network is being developed along with air and road. Now Cox’s Bazar can be reached in seven and a half hours from Dhaka and two and a half hours from Chattogram. As a result, millions of tourists will visit Cox’s Bazar every week, enjoying the natural beauty of the forest, mountains, sea, river, wildlife sanctuaries, and cultivated land.

Bangladesh’s economy and communication sectors will undergo a sea change as a result of a direct railway running from Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar. At present, various projects for economic development, including Matarbari deep-sea port, a thermal power plant, an energy hub, international airport and special economic zones, are going on in Maheshkhali, near Cox’s Bazar. To make the communication of Chattogram with Cox’s Bazar and South Chattogram easier and faster, Bangabandhu tunnel is completed under the Karnaphuli River. As a result, domestic and foreign tourists and investment will increase in Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar.

Written By: Lamia Mehreen