BR deplores dropping rail from Dhaka\'s mega transport plan

Bangladesh Railway objected to the dropping of rail from a 20-year mega transport plan for greater Dhaka city although some train services are proposed in BR's own master plan for easing the capital's traffic congestion.
The Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) finalised the draft of the Revised Strategic Transport Plan (RSTP) last month with traffic-jam remedial options to be implemented over next 20 years for managing 30 million daily trips in the greater Dhaka city.
Sources said the BR reservations came when the railway authorities found no mention in the RSTP of its commuter services planned under its 20-year-long master plan for the capital city.
"We are surprised to see BR ignored in the final draft of RSTP though it is an important transport for the capital city and its adjoining cities," said an official.
He said in the master plan, commuter services have been under consideration to connect Dhaka with nearby cities, namely Narayanganj and Gazipur.
Official sources said the BR also found repetition of the services in the RSTP for proposing some mass rapid transit (MRT) lines on the BR's corridors. They said BR will develop extra dual-gauge rail tracks with a view to introducing these city-based train services.
They said MRT lines 1 and 4 are found overlapping with the BR services as these two will connect the city with Gazipur and Narayanganj.
The BR's reservations on the final draft of RSTP have already been sent in a letter to the Ministry of Railway to share with the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges under which DTCA works.
 In the letter, it is mentioned that the MRT line 1 proposed between Gazipur and Kamalapur Rail Station through Pragati Sarani will not be possible to implement as the BR will also set up its own tracks on its land under the master plan. Both commuter service developments are now at implementation stage.
Besides, the Railway authorities showed unwillingness to follow the RSTP recommendation which guides the BR, Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation in abiding the safety rules drafted by DTCA.
The authorities say the safety rules of BR itself are reliable as there is hardly any incident having occurred for following it.
The DTCA drafted the RSTP with the expertise of a Japanese consulting firm and technical support of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) during the last one year.
DTCA sources said the RSTP was drafted through studies and reviewing options of the original STP.
In the final draft, seven mass-transit services and three circular roads have been proposed for the greater Dhaka city along with reform of bus services and formation of bus network to ease the traffic system in and around the city.
However, DTCA officials said the Japanese experts did not incorporate railway into the RSTP as traditional train service is not considered a remedy for the city's traffic jam.
They said five MRTs have been proposed to help commuters on different routes reach respective destination through speedy train services.
DTCA Executive Director Mohammad Kaikobad Hossain said the RSTP draft was finalized after holding meetings with all stakeholders on different occasions as well as opinions received from all sections of people after issuing advertisements in different national newspapers.
He however alleged that the BR had hardly attended stakeholder meetings and shared its master plan despite invitation.
The ED, however, said: "There is still scope of incorporating logical issues into the RSTP as the final draft was sent to all stakeholders for getting their final comments by January 10."
 There has been longstanding dispute between the Ministry of Railway and the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges over implementing the MRTs in Dhaka city as MRT projects now belong to the MoRTB despite design and function being related to MoR.
As BR has many problems, including lack of skilled workers and officials to run the cheap mode of transport, initially it did not take the challenge of implementing MRT projects.
     smunima@yahoo.com