Bangladesh has started working on an integrated multimodal transportation system to reduce heavy dependence on roads, officials say.
The Planning Commission held a tripartite meeting with the ministries concerned and development partners on Monday to expedite work on the system across the country, they say..
Kabir Ahmed, chief of the commission, presided over the meeting.
The commission urged the ministries and agencies to take steps to connect all waterways, railways, and roads properly in order to reduce the dependency on road transport.
Also, the meeting requested the development partners to come forward with technical and financial support to set up the new transportation system and finalise a roadmap to cut the dependence of the country's logistics strategy on roads.
"We want to reduce road dependence. On the other hand, we want to strengthen waterway and railway communication to transport passengers and freight," Kabir told The Financial Express.
He said roads currently met 80 per cent of the national transport demand, and the aim was to move toward a more balanced rail, waterway, and port network to reduce logistics costs, improve safety, and build regional connectivity.
"The share of railway transport is only about 5.0 per cent, while it is less than 1.0 per cent for waterways. We want to boost the railway share to 10-20 per cent and the waterways to 5.0 per cent over the next few years," he said.
If the ministries and development partners came forward and expedited their work, it was possible to build the new transportation system within five to six years, he added.
Monday's meeting would speed up the proposed multimodal system project, said another commission official.
The high-level meeting aimed to shift the nation's heavy reliance on roads by seamlessly linking rail, water, and road networks, he added.
Roads currently handle the vast majority of the national transport demand, leading to heavy traffic congestion, high logistics costs, and inefficiencies.
During the meeting, the commission urged ministries and international donors to take immediate, actionable steps to establish a unified transit blueprint.
Its officials highlighted that building a multimodal framework was essential to cut logistics costs, elevate transit safety, and strengthen economic links.
"The country's economy could no longer rely solely on fragmented road infrastructure. We must map and integrate our existing railways, inland waterways, and roads to maximise national efficiency," the commission official said.
Kabir told the FE they had initially decided to make Pangaon, Ashuganj, and Jashore's Noapara ports more efficient by setting up proper logistics and building infrastructure.
"Besides, our target is to prepare the Dhaka-Chattogram railway chord line, Tongi-Akhaura railway, Laksham-Chattogram dual-gauge railway, and the inland container depot in Dhirasram and then connect to the multimodal system," he said.
"If we can even use our existing railway lines efficiently, our reliance on roads will reduce. For example, we can operate 122 sets of trains on the Dhaka-Chattogram route, as opposed to only 42 now," Kabir explained.
"So our target is to strengthen railways and waterways and connect those with the road transportation system so that freight and passengers could be transported through the multimodal system," he said.
Another Planning Commission official said shifting the transit volume to waterways and rail would minimise expensive land acquisition costs required for new highways.
International development partners were invited to prioritise and finance multi-billion-dollar transit hubs, he said.
He also said moving forward, all new transport infrastructure projects must strictly align with the overarching multimodal master plan.
