Rendel appointed on Bangladesh's 240km long freight railway from Dhaka to Payra Port

London, United Kingdom – International project consultancy firm Rendel and OTB Engineering Ltd – in association with HR Wallingford, Railway Engineering Associated Ltd and BCL Associates – have been appointed by DP Rail to provide the engineering services for the implementation studies on a new 240km freight railway in Bangladesh.

DP Rail, a UK-based company, will design, finance, build, operate and maintain the rail link between Dhaka and Payra Port on a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) basis. It is the largest FDI project deal yet for Bangladesh. The implementation studies will start in January 2017 and will last 18 months. The implementation study will finalise the route alignment as well as the costs of building the railway – to standards that are satisfactory both to Bangladesh Railway and the investors behind DP Rail. It will consider requirements of stakeholders, including potential users, local and national government, and all parties along the proposed Dhaka – Payra corridor. The implementation study, which the Rendel/OTB joint venture will carry out, includes route selection, surveys, definition of design criteria and design and cost estimates leading up to production of design and build documents.

Rendel has worked continuously in Bangladesh for more than 30 years. The firm’s more recent projects include Lalon Shah (Paksey) Bridge, Priority B Bridges, the DFID-funded Bridge Replacement Project, Bridge Assessment and Strengthening for Occidental, Bhairab Bridge study, Padma Bridge study and the detailed design of the Shah Amanat (Third Karnaphuli) Bridge, opened in 2010. Rendel is currently providing Management Support Consultancy services to the Bangladesh Bridge Authority for the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project.

Keith Taylor, project director, Rendel said, “Rendel and our partners are proud to demonstrate our expertise in this geographical region as well as on previous railway projects. The combined expertise of our team offers DP Rail a unique resource that has been committed to solving Bangladesh’s transport infrastructure needs for more than 30 years.”

This come after DP Rail signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of Bangladesh / Bangladesh Railway on the 20th December 2016.

The new deep water Payra Port, at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal, will be able to accommodate large container ships of 120,000 tonnes or 8,000 containers. The port, railway port and associated infrastructure have been designated as being of national importance to Bangladesh. The rail link puts Payra on track to be the country’s main seaport.

OTB Engineering is a consultancy specialising in the development of road and rail infrastructure internationally. It has a reputation for devising and implementing innovative and practical solutions for civil engineering projects. A UK-based business, it has been operating in southeast Asia since 2006 and has a fully-established office in Hanoi, Vietnam where it provides both strategic advice and specialist engineering services. In Bangladesh, OTB has been working on the assessment of climate change on infrastructure and resilience improvement, as well as providing new and more reliable ways of developing infrastructure vital for rural development.