DHAKA, June 11, 2026 (BSS) - The government has taken an initiative to 
construct a new chord line on the Dhaka-Cumilla section of the Dhaka-
Chattogram railway route which will reduce the overall distance between the 
two major cities by around 80 kilometres.

Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury today said this 
while presenting the national budget proposal for the 2026-27 fiscal year in 
the national parliament.

He said the feasibility study for the project has already been completed and 
among three proposed alignments, a route from Shyampur in Narayanganj to 
Cumilla has been preliminarily finalized. 

Once implemented, the proposed cord line would reduce the existing Dhaka-
Chattogram rail distance from about 320 kilometres to nearly 240 kilometres. 
As a result, travel time between Dhaka and Chattogram is expected to decrease 
from around five hours to about three and a half hours, he said.

Besides, cargo trains carrying goods from Chattogram Port, the Bay Terminal 
and the Matarbari Deep Sea Port will be able to connect directly to the 
proposed Dhirashram Inland Container Depot (ICD) through the existing 
Chattogram-Feni-Cumilla-Brahmanbaria Bhairab-Narsingdi railway line, 
facilitating the cargo transporting system.

This year a total of Taka 9,940 crore has been proposed for the Ministry of 
Railways.