Passengers suffer as trains remain inoperative

Sixteen trains on different routes of the Bangladesh Railway (BR) eastern zone have remained closed over the last decade due to multiple crises, mainly a shortage of coaches.

This has in turn caused unprecedented suffering for thousands of passengers commuting on the route.

Railway officials said the authorities closed down the trains due to coach, engine and manpower crises.

According to Bangladesh Railway, there are 39 pairs of second-class mail, express and commuter trains in the eastern region. There is a requirement for 308 second-class coaches in the eastern region.

However, only 227 compartments are allotted in the zone.

Moreover, the eastern zone has 302 authorised positions for second-class trains. However, just 144 employees are working, leaving 158 vacant.

Three trains used to travel at the Chattogram-Sylhet route at one time, but the local Jalalabad Express train is no longer operating. Passengers are forced to take a bus due to a lack of train tickets.

"The local train has been shut down since 2019 owing to a shortage of coaches. On multiple occasions, I was compelled to pay an additional price for tickets as intercity train tickets were unavailable," said businessman Mohammad Ayub, who has to travel the Chattogram-Sylhet route frequently for work.

Akter Kamal, assistant chief operating officer of the eastern zone, said "The railways would have made more revenue if eight local trains had been launched. But we are unable to restart the trains due to a lack of coaches, staff, and engines."

Md Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, secretary general of Bangladesh Passengers Welfare Association, said "Railways have not imported second class coaches for four decades. The authorities are not paying attention to local trains, which are much popular among passengers."

Meanwhile, officials from Bangladesh Railway's engineering department believe that importing second-class coaches is the only option to bring the railway service up to a minimum standard.

"All trains have a shortage of coaches. We are forced to stop the trains. We cannot run these trains until we get new coaches," Jahangir Hossain, general manager of BR (eastern zone) told this correspondent.