Railway to procure 2 rescue cranes

29 June 2010, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

Bangladesh Railway is going to procure two rescue cranes aiming to replace the age-old existing fleet that has long exceeded its economic life. The two cranes worth about Tk 71 crore will be procured with local funding from German company Kirrow Ardelt AG. It will take about two years to deliver the cranes, railway officials said. A contract has been signed in this regard between the two sides at Rail Bhaban in the capital yesterday. Md Belayet Hossain, director general of BR, TA Chowdhury, additional director general (Rolling Stock), and Heinrich Deklerk of Kirrow Ardelt AG were present at the signing ceremony. Railway officials said the procurement would help execute salvage operations more efficiently. The railway originally submitted plans to purchase four rescue cranes to the communication ministry, they added. The railway's current fleet includes eleven salvage cranes, which have been in ramshackle state for long. Of eleven cranes, only four can function properly. The fleet includes cranes purchased in 1940. The state-run railway made its last procurement of two cranes in 1995 from France.