Bangladesh Railway is going to procure nine metre-gauge diesel-electric locomotives at a cost of Tk 284 crore with a view to improving the train service.
The Bangladesh Railway (BR) and Hyundai Rotem, a Korea-based company, signed a contract to this end yesterday.
BR officials said each locomotive is priced at Tk 31.62 crore, which includes custom duty, the cost of spare parts, training and cost of service engineer.
The Economic Development Cooperation Fund of Korea will provide Tk 199 crore while the government will provide the remaining amount.
As per the agreement, the locomotives will be delivered within 24 months, but BR officials hoped that it might complete within 18 months.
The procurement is part of a project on 'Procurement of 46 locomotives' to replace worn-out engines.
The first phase of the project started in 1995. Current procurement is the final stage of the project, BR officials said.
The BR now has a fleet of 286 train engines, of which 246 are currently in use while the remaining locomotives exceeded its 20-year economic life a long time ago.
Towhidur Anwar Chowdhury, additional director general (rolling stock) of BR, and Woo Dong Ik, director of Overseas Sales, Hyundai Rotem, signed the contract in the city.
Md Belayet Hossain, director general of BR, and Khandaker Md Iftekhar Haidar, additional secretary, Ministry of Communication, were present at the contract signing ceremony.