Railway issues: Need serious thoughts
Atikul H Khan, Former Director General, Bangladesh Railway
It has been decided by the government, as reported in the media, that the inland container depot [ICD] at Kamalapur railway station will be shifted to Tongi. The reason, as reported, is that the ICD is carrying too many containers and the transportation of the export/ import cargo is creating congestion in the city streets. If that be the case there is scope for reviewing the decision. After all, transportation facilities are developed for enhancement of traffic. It is difficult to understand why the ICD is to be shifted only because it is serving the very purpose it is expected to do. Incidentally this ICD was expanded only four years ago at a considerable cost. What is necessary is to remove the difficulties, if any, in the transportation of container and break-bulk cargo to and from the ICD. When the construction of the flyover at Khilgaon is completed the present congestion on the approach road of the ICD will be eased. As a matter of fact substantial portion of the export/import cargo handled at Kamalapur ICD is produced/consumed in Dhaka City itself. If the ICD is shifted out side the city the cargo will have to be transported to and from the city on trailers/trucks creating more congestion in the streets. It would, perhaps, be appropriate to create additional facilities outside the city and retain the ICD at Kamalapur to serve the city. It is not for the first time that such a decision concerning railway has been taken without due consideration of the role the railway is supposed to play. In most of the cities of the world the main railway stations are at the city centres. But we decided in the 1960s to shift the railway station from Fulbaria to Kamalapur at considerable expense. Not surprisingly, it was found that the city extended itself towards and beyond the new station. Interestingly, some people are thinking loudly about shifting the station again because the railway track is bifurcating the city. What we really needed was to build additional terminals in the city and provide over-bridges for the roads [not necessarily expensive flyovers every where]. Unfortunately no serious thought has ever been given since the partition of the subcontinent in 1947 to develop this railway in the proper perspective. Rather, the railway system was interfered with, to its detriment, to meet other requirements. The rail track in Dhaka city was shifted for the second time to make room for the new international airport. Most of the important and aging railway bridges were used as power inter-connectors, gas pipeline carriers or roadways causing capacity reduction and maintenance problem. Interestingly, when Jamuna Multi-purpose Bridge was being planned the question of providing a railway track was ignored. It was, however, decided at a much later stage to include a railway track on the bridge. But at that stage it could accommodate only a metre gauge track. Although a dual gauge (broad gauge and metre gauge combined) connection is being provided over the bridge, the broad gauge train operation will be highly restricted in respect of loading capacity. Fortunately, however, it is possible to enhance the loading capacity of the bridge with minor re-engineering and re-rating of the loading capacity. It is hoped that the government will give due consideration to the findings of study conducted in this connection. Coming back to the question of Dhaka city and its railway linkage, the solution lies not in ridding the city of railway, but in establishing the right type of railway in the city. For instance, the initiative that was taken to establish an elevated mass rail transit system [EMRTS] in the city was a step in the right direction. Surprisingly, the project seems to have been stalled. Dhaka city badly needs some sort of rail based mass transit system.
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