On the basis of Public Private Partnership (PPP), Japan and Bangladesh have initially set the goal of implementing the project by the year 2030. The Japanese government has also formed a consortium headed by Kajima Corporation.
The government of Bangladesh has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Japan and approved it in the cabinet meeting.
Project Director Al Fattah said that the survey has been started and the proposal has been sent to the World Bank for financing. Masoudur Rahman told bdnews24.com, “Elevating Kamlapur and Dhaka Airport railway stations into multimodal transport hubs is a grand plan.”
He said that a world-class 60-storey multi-purpose building will be built with a multi-storey railway station in the underground to serve the metro rail, subway, elevated expressway and BRT passengers.
The remaining two companies of the ‘sub working group’ consisting of Kajima Corporation for the construction of railways, roads and tunnels are Nippon Koi and Oriental Consultants Global. The project director said that this group will finance the project.
What is the multimodal transport hub?
It is a center where many paths converge. From here passengers can easily change their transport to their destination. As multimodal transport hubs bring road and rail under the same network, it also contributes to increasing the speed and capacity of the transport sector by facilitating movement.
As part of the preparations for building this hub around Kamalapur and Dhaka Airport Railway Station, modernization of the Dhaka-Chittagong rail transport corridor, relocation of the existing infrastructure of Kamalapur Railway Station will also be done.
As per the initial proposal, the entire site where the ICD is currently located will be vacated and a multi-storey building will be planned to be constructed and a multi-modal transport hub will be constructed.
According to the website of the Public Private Partnership Authority (PPPA), the hub will have passenger and goods vehicle and destination change facilities.
A station will have food, shopping as well as hotels and offices for waiting passengers, among other facilities. Plans are underway to create an opportunity to increase income from multifaceted commercial areas including shopping complexes in the vast scope of this building.