Sun News Desk: It has been proposed to relocate the country's traditional Kamalapur railway station for the establishment of Metrorail. As a result, the existing station building will be demolished.

If the Kamalapur station is at its present location, the mega project under construction will fall behind the Dhaka Metrorail installation. The construction of a multimodal hub surrounding the station will also be hampered. That is why a Japanese company has asked to move the traditional Kamalapur railway station to the north.

It is learned that the issue was discussed at a meeting at the railway building on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan and Prime Minister's Private Sector Adviser Salman F Rahman. A sub-working group led by Kazima Corporation , a Japanese company, presented technical aspects of the issue at the meeting . However, the meeting was informed that the final decision in this regard will be taken subject to the permission of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The country's mega project Metrorail and all its stations will be built at a height of about 13 meters above the ground. Construction work is ongoing. Metrorail starting from Uttara to Kamalapur is its last station. The last station of the metro rail is right in front of Kamalapur station.

Meanwhile, discussions have been going on for a long time about whether the Metrorail route should be changed or Kamalapur station should be shifted elsewhere. However, the railway authorities claim that the metro rail will beautify Kamalapur station. So let's change the route of Metrorail.

But the implementing company of Metrorail, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), is reluctant to change its route. According to the company, if the Metrorail route is changed, the route will be increased by 2-3 km. It will also increase the cost.

In the end, the railway authorities agreed to move the Kamalapur station 130 meters north, according to the design of Japan's Kazima Corporation. As a result, the previous building has to be demolished. Action will be taken with the permission of the Prime Minister.

Bangladesh Railway (DG) Director General. Shamsuzzaman told the media that if Kamalapur station falls behind because of the metro rail, its beauty will no longer exist. So it is better to remove it.

In 2018, the government approved in principle the project of making a multimodal hub around Kamalapur station with public-private joint venture (PPP). Under the project, various infrastructures including hotels, shopping malls, subways and flyovers, multi-storied housing buildings will be constructed around Kamalapur station.

In this regard, the DG of Railways said, a multimodal hub will be set up around Kamalapur station, which is spread over the railway area including Shahjahanpur. Under this project, a new station will be constructed in the style of the existing Kamalapur railway station. There are plans to start work within 5 years. Implementation may take up to 10 years to complete.