Dhaka-Rajshahi rail link remains suspended

Train communications between Rajshahi and other parts of the country remained suspended for 24 hours following derailment of eight wagons of an oil-carrying train at Charghat upazila in Rajshahi yesterday.

Eight oil tankers out of 30 of the train skidded off the track in Sardaha road station area around 6:00pm on Wednesday causing ‘massive damage’ to around 500 meters of the rail track, our Rajshahi staff correspondent report.

Railway authorities today claimed to have found mismanagement in properly maintaining the rail track behind the derailment.

The schedules of Rajshahi-bound trains from Dhaka -- Bonolota and Dhumketu -- were cancelled following the train derailment, Aminul Haque, manager of Kamalapur Railway Station, told The Daily Star.

Dhumketu was scheduled to leave Kamalapur around 6:00pm while Bonolota around 1:15pm, the station manager said.  

The passengers were also given back their ticket prices following cancelation of the train schedules, he added.

Meanwhile, Rajshahi railway authorities also cancelled schedules of all trains in the morning.  

The cancellation caused enormous sufferings to thousands of passengers, especially to the hajj pilgrims who were going to Dhaka to board on flights from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Since the morning, the rescuers somehow managed to recover only three tankers and found a crack on the railway line.

Abdur Rashid, an assistant executive engineer, was suspended after the incident.

A five-member committee headed by Rajshahi Railway Divisional Transportation Officer Abdullah Al Mamun was formed to investigate the accident.