Bangladesh Railway (BR) often faces delay in maintaining train schedule in the country's northern and southern regions for putting more focus on setting up of new railroads than improving the capacity of existing track in the western zone.
It runs all its trains, dividing the country into two zones - eastern and western.
Sources said though the authority operates 18 trains from Dhaka touching more or less 15 stations in north, northwestern, south and southwestern districts under western zone, they have hardly taken up projects to improve the track capacity.
All these trains run on a single track from Tongi at slow speed due to lack of track capacity, they added.
For this reason, the state-owned train operator faces bitter experience during Eid holidays. Like previous years, all the express and mail trains running in this zone were delayed by three to seven hours before and after Eid-ul-Azha festival.
According to official records, out of a total 48 projects being implemented under the annual development programme (ADP) this year, 16 projects are in the western zone.
Of these, half of the projects are being implemented to set up new rail track for establishing rail link with other districts.
Six other projects have been taken up to improve stations, level crossing, signaling system, and rehabilitate existing tracks etc.
Only one project has been taken up to improve the capacity of existing single track, sources said, adding that it was taken up very recently.
They said BR has launched the project to construct dual-gauge double-line between Joydevpur and Ishwardi sections by appointing a Chinese contactor this year.
"It is true that the railway sector now gets handsome percentage of the ADP budget. But the fact is that a lion's share of the budget is blocked for establishing new rail links-for example Cox's Bazar and through Padma Bridge," said an official.
Besides, he said BR has to focus on the eastern zone more than the western zone due to its link with the main port city.
BR has made a good progress in establishing double track on Dhaka-Chattogram corridor which is the main track to go to most of the districts in eastern zone, said the officials.
Trains cannot run at usual speed in this region due to two types of tracks. There is a metre-gauge track up to Tangail, but most of the tracks on other side of Bangabandhu Bridge are broad-gauge. Besides, trains cannot run at a speed of above 20 kilometres while crossing over four kilometres of Bangabandhu Bridge.
The official records show that new track development projects have been taken up to establish links between Khulna-Mongla port, Payra port, Benapole land port, Chilhati border, and Meherpur etc.
In the absence of proper planning, BR could not carry out consistent development of track, train carriage, locomotive, station capacity comparing to the needs of passengers and freights in the western zone.
But analysts say focusing on new track may increase pressure on the single-track train line.
"New railway network in the western zone will certainly create pressure on the existing track," said an engineer involved in the railway development activities.
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