The Awami League government had taken up a good number of infrastructure development projects since assuming office eight years ago but only a handful of those could be implemented.

In the first three years of its current tenure, the government inaugurated a few of these projects which improved road and rail communications to some extent.

Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga dual carriageway expressway, Dhaka-Sylhet, Joydevpur-Elenga, and Elenga-Rangpur dual carriageways are a few of the major road expansion projects the government took up since the AL returned to power in 2014.

The Dhaka-Bhanga and Joydevpur-Elenga projects seem to have good pace but ground work for the other two is yet to begin. 

However, things could become a lot better in the last two years of this government's term as some major projects, like the Padma Bridge, are expected to be completed.

The perennial problem remains, failure to implement projects in time and within budget. Hardly any major project was completed without time extensions or increased cost.

Inefficiency, corruption, infighting of bureaucrats, and lack of funds were primarily blamed for the delays and cost escalations.

The government's policy of prioritising a few mega projects and injecting money for their implementation was also one of the reasons for delays and cost escalations of other projects.

Expansion of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, known as the economic lifeline of the country, into dual carriageway drastically reduced travel time between the capital and the Chittagong Port.

The highway facilitates smooth transport of export-import goods and has been a big boost for trade and economy.

Similarly, upgrading the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway and Chandra-Nabinagar and Ashulia-Chandra roads into dual carriageways has eased congestion.

However, people were not getting full benefits of the improved road network as the government failed to maintain discipline on the roads.

Haphazard parking, illegal occupation of roads, and reckless driving were hampering traffic flow.

Experts noted that five flyovers built in the capital is a piecemeal solution, not a coordinated one, and it would never solve the traffic problem. They feared that the city's traffic situation would further deteriorate.

After a couple of years of delay, the construction of the country's first Metro Rail, a 21km stretch between Uttara and Motijheel, is now on. If finished by 2021, as scheduled, Metro Rail would help reduce city traffic.

The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project was taken up over five years ago for a faster bus service between Joydevpur and Sadarghat.

Recently, its construction work was inaugurated but the length of the BRT has been reduced. It would be between Joydevpur and Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

The Dhaka Elevated Expressway, a public private partnership project, appeared to be the most disappointing one.

The future of the 20km expressway, from the airport to Shanir Akhra, near the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, is still uncertain largely due to funding issues.

Construction of the much-talked about Padma Bridge, a top priority of the government, is going on in full swing and is scheduled to be completed at the end of next year. It will connect 21 southern districts to the capital.

The bridge will also boost export-import through the Mongla Port and economists predict one percent growth in the GDP because of this.

Work on the Karnaphuli tunnel project, approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) in late 2015, has begun and it is expected to be completed by 2019.

RAIL

Rail services slightly improved as the government bought a good number of locomotives, carriages, and wagons and built new lines. But the railway failed to implement some major projects.

The AL government launched a number of projects in 2009 and 2010 to improve the once-neglected rail sector under a 20-year Rail Master Plan in 2011.

A total of 43 projects are currently in the pipeline and progress of most of these is sluggish due to what the rail officials said fund crisis and shortage of manpower. They did not mention mismanagement and inefficiency in implementing projects.

In the last eight years, the government constructed 120km of new rail lines and upgraded 200km single-gauge line into dual-gauge and about 800km rail lines were mended.

Besides, some 50 locomotives and 500 wagons have been added to the fleet, helping introduce about 100 new passenger and freight trains.

Experts and rail officials said people would have to wait for years to get better rail services.

In July 2012, the government decided to build the third and fourth rail lines between Dhaka and Joydevpur as the capacity of the existing two lines was used up. Hardly any progress was made in this regard.

The government now focuses on the construction of two new rail lines --one from Dhaka to Jessore via Mawa and Bhanga, and the other from Joydevpur to Payra Port via Dhaka, Mawa and Bhanga.

It signed two MoUs with a Chinese company and a British company.

On many occasions, the rail minister, officials and AL leaders said the government would build the Dhaka-Bhanga rail line via Mawa for inauguration in December 2018 along with the Padma Bridge.

However, it is almost certain that the rail line will not be ready for service when the bridge opens.

The construction of Dohazari-Ramu-Cox's Bazar and Ramu to Gundum, on the border with Myanmar, dual-gauge rail line project is stalled due to funding issues and land-acquisition related complications.

The project has been stalled since the Ecnec approved it in July 2010.

Similarly, Khulna-Mongla rail line, and a new dual-gauge Dhaka-Narayanganj rail line saw only over 24 and three percent progress in the last two years.