Costly rail stations fall into disuse amid acute staff shortage

Munima Sultana | Published: April 22, 2026 22:58:21

Massive investment in flagship railway stations is now being questioned, with many lying idle and poorly maintained years after inauguration due to staff shortages.
Sources say that Bangladesh Railway (BR), the state-owned operator, has been unable to deploy adequate staff, leaving several newly built stations -- including iconic ones -- struggling to function properly.
As a result, many of the facilities have already begun losing their visual appeal, while incidents of theft of valuable items have also been reported.
Officials, however, claim that repeated requests for additional manpower were turned down soon after the completion of the projects.
"With limited resources, we have somehow been managing these stations, but it has not been possible to make them fully operational or maintain them properly," said a BR official.
The Finance Division, in rejecting BR's requests, cited the need to utilise existing approved manpower. An organogram approving 47,637 posts was finalised in 2021, and BR was instructed to fill existing vacancies before seeking new recruitment.
"BR has been asked to fill vacant posts first and then apply for additional manpower for the new stations," said an official, requesting anonymity.
Under several mega projects completed between 2022 and 2024, BR constructed major stations at Cox's Bazar and Bhanga in Faridpur, alongside others such as Mawa and Zajira under the Padma Bridge rail link.
Additional stations were also built under the Khulna-Mongla rail line and the Jamuna railway bridge corridor.
The Cox's Bazar station was designed as a tourism-oriented commercial complex, while Bhanga station was envisioned as a regional rail hub.
Stations under the Khulna-Mongla and Jamuna bridge projects were aimed at enhancing freight handling and passenger capacity.
These stations involved substantial investment. The Cox's Bazar station alone cost Tk 2.15 billion, while Bhanga station required Tk 1.8 billion. Most other stations were built at costs nearing Tk 1.0 billion each.
According to BR, it sought approval for 1,278 staff for the Tk 113 billion Dohazari-Cox's Bazar rail link project and 1,674 personnel for the Tk 392 billion Padma Bridge rail link (PBRL) project. It also requested 185 staff for the Jamuna railway bridge and 577 for the Khulna-Mongla line.
Against the approved 47,637 posts, BR currently has around 23,000 employees, including engineers and technical experts. Since the 2021 approval, it has recruited 6,858 staff, mostly in lower-grade positions.
Sources say that even with nearly a 50 per cent shortfall in manpower, staff retention has emerged as a major challenge, with around half of newly recruited employees reportedly leaving for better opportunities.
With an average annual recruitment of about 1,700 personnel, insiders say there has been little initiative to accelerate hiring to meet operational needs.
The current staffing imbalance is rooted in earlier policy decisions, when a significant number of skilled personnel from multidisciplinary units opted for voluntary retirement in the early 2000s amid low priority for railway development.
smunima@yahoo.com