Bangladesh's largest railway Padma Bridge Rail Link Project (PBRLP) officially opened across its entire line to traffic on Tuesday.
The PBRLP, one of the significant projects under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Bangladesh, was built by the China Railway Group Limited (CREC) and funded by the Export-Import Bank of China.
The railway, known locally as the "Dream Road," stretches approximately 170 km. Following its opening, travel time between the capital Dhaka and the southwestern city of Jashore will be reduced from the original 10 hours to just three hours.
"The new line is very smooth and very fast. Everything is good," said Munna, a passenger.
"The service on the train is excellent. I really like it. There's no traffic jam, and it didn't take me much time to get here," said Urmi Khan, another passenger.
"Thanks to this rail link project, which allows me to travel quickly, saving both time and money," said Samrat, a passenger.
The Bangladeshi government held a grand inauguration ceremony to celebrate the opening on the same day.
At the ceremony, Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, adviser to Bangladesh's Ministry of Railway, described the day as historic as train service on the Dhaka-Khulna route through the Padma Bridge now offers a travel time of just 3 hours and 45 minutes.
"Today is an unforgettable day for us. The Padma Bridge Rail Link has reduced travel time between Khulna and Dhaka to less than four hours," said the adviser.
The railway is expected to significantly boost economic development in the regions along its route, directly benefiting a population of 80 million and driving Bangladesh's economic growth by 1.5 percentage points.
"This railway crosses a major river along a north-south route and connects five existing railway lines, significantly improving the efficiency of the entire rail network," said Shi Yuan, project manager of the Padma Bridge Rail Link, CREC.
"It is a very great achievement for our country, especially for the people of southern areas in our country. We are very grateful to China, the people of China who contributed to the development of our country," said Arif Rahman, a passenger.
The Padma Bridge Rail Link is a modern railway incorporating advanced Chinese technologies and equipment, such as ballastless tracks and automated sleeper production lines. At the peak of construction, over 10,000 local workers were employed, and more than 20,000 Bangladeshi technical workers were trained, effectively promoting economic development in the areas along the railway.
""I've learned so many things and I have a very good work experience with the Chinese people," said Ahmed, a Bangladeshi employee of the Padma Bridge Rail Link.
The rail link, which started construction in July 2018, has passed through the Padma Bridge, the largest of its kind in Bangladesh, built by the China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group. It will serve as a vital channel that connects Dhaka and more than 20 districts in the southern area of Bangladesh, and will also be an important part of the trans-Asian railway network to promote regional connectivity and economic development of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh's largest railway officially opens across its entire line to traffic
The second meeting of High-Level Consultation Mechanism on People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges between China and Japan, was held in Beijing on Wednesday, with 10 important agreements reached there.
Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese foreign minister, and Takeshi Iwaya, Japanese minister for foreign affairs, jointly attended the meeting.
The 10 agreement are as follows.
First, the two sides will promote youth exchange visits, and encourage and support study trips between the two countries.
Second, the two sides will deepen cooperation in the field of education, strengthen the exchange of overseas students, and support primary and secondary schools in the two countries to establish sister schools and institutions of higher education to carry out inter-school cooperation.
Third, the two sides will support tourism cooperation and introduce more facilitation measures to promote mutual visits between tourists from the two countries.
Fourth, the two sides will build more bridges for exchanges between sister cities and make good use of mechanisms and platforms such as the China-Japan Governor Forum, the China-Japan-ROK Cultural Exchange Year and the Culture Cities of East Asia to expand friendly exchanges at the local and non-governmental levels.
Fifth, the two sides will strengthen sports exchanges and cooperation, and support each other in hosting major sports events such as the 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in 2026.
Sixth, the two sides will support continued cooperation in film, television, music, publishing, animation, games and other cultural and entertainment industries, exchange visits of high-level art groups, and support the translation and publication of classic works between the two countries.
Seventh, the two sides will strengthen exchanges and cooperation between media and think tanks, play a positive role in bilateral relations, and strive to improve public opinion and the environment for public opinion. The two sides will support exchanges and cooperation in new media and encourage exchanges between positive vibes of the two countries.
Eighth, the two sides will conduct exchanges between women's groups and share experience on promoting the common development of men and women. China invites Japan to attend the Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.
Ninth, the two sides will build the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Kansai, into a platform for exchanges and friendship between the two peoples. China supports Japan in hosting the expo, while Japan welcomes China's participation and will provide assistance in the preparation and operation of the China Pavilion.
Tenth, the two sides will hold the third meeting of China-Japan high-level consultation mechanism on people-to-people and cultural exchanges in Japan in due course.
Noting that next year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, Wang said that the purpose of remembering this history is to draw lessons from it and cherish the hard-won peace.
China hopes and believes that Japan can once again demonstrate its determination for peaceful development and work with China to promote the sound and stable development of China-Japan relations in the spirit of facing history squarely and looking to the future, said Wang.
Iwaya said Japan is willing to work with China to improve the quality of people-to-people exchange projects, deepen exchanges between sister cities and take more measures to facilitate personnel exchanges.
China, Japan reach 10 agreements on people-to-people, cultural exchanges
