Calcutta, June 17: Suburban train services are set to get a boost with a new rail bridge coming up on the Hooghly between Bandel and Naihati.

The Rs 106-crore span, which will replace the existing Jubilee Bridge, constructed in 1887, will be completed in three years. Eastern Railway general manager Shyam Kumar laid its foundation stone on Friday.

The Jubilee Bridge being single line, the railway is unable to run as many trains as it would like to. It can take the pressure of 40 to 45 trains a day. Over 200 trains would take the new bridge, which would be double line, daily, Kumar said.

“We expect the Chitpur terminal to be operational in three years and then all north Bengal and Bihar-bound trains can use the new bridge,” he added.

There are also plans to run trains from Bandel to Chitpur in north Calcutta.

A senior railway official said: “The foundation of the existing bridge has been weakened over the years and its pillars hardly have any grip length now.”