My view on Magnetic Train in Bangladesh
Dr Shafiquzzaman Khan, Sweden
It is indeed a great effort from our Communication Minister to introduce the fastest magnetic line between Dhaka and Chittagong. This will definitely play a vital role for the business community as well as to the ordinary passengers. I was delighted to read about such a nice project in the daily newspapers. I therefore thought to share a few ideas regarding this.I have been working at the Division of Railway Technology in Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden) since 1998. In my view it could be lucrative to establish broad-gauge line instead of magnetic line between the two cities and thus run high speed trains. In Sweden, newly built interregional train (non-tilted) run about 200km/h. there are few advantages to use such type of tracks. First, the travel time for the trains could be kept the same compared to the Magnetic Trains. Secondly, the goods train could hardly take two hours thirty minutes to cover the distances between the cities. This means both passenger trains and goods trains could be used on the same tracks and thus could bring enormous income to the railway sector. Finally, non-tilted trains could easily be run on such tracks. It is necessary to inform that about 20% passengers suffer from motion sickness due to tilted trains. Once I travelled by a tilted train and vomited up to six times. I asked a few Bangladeshis if they have similar experiences and most of them do. Therefore, the concerned ministry should avoid introducing tilted-trains. According to my research, 30% passengers are likely to be affected by motion sickness in Bangladesh if tilted-trains are introduced.
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