BR ditches decision on procuring AC coaches

Munima Sultana The Bangladesh Railway (BR) is likely to cancel its decision to procure 70 'technically imperfect' broad-gauge (BG) air-conditioned (AC) passenger coaches and five Diesel Electric Multiple Units (DEMUs) from India under the US $1.0 billion Indian line of credit (LoC) in the face of severe criticism. Instead, it has planned to revive the earlier project under which the BR would procure 125 broad-gauge non-AC coaches under the LoC, according to officials concerned. The officials, however, were unwilling to call it cancellation of a decision. "We had a plan a year before to buy 125 BG non-AC coaches from India. But later we had to switch over to the 70 AC coaches as India could not provide the first order because of its high domestic demand," said a concerned BR official. "Again we're reverting to the earlier project, as India is now able to meet our earlier demand," he added. Sources linked a BR team's visit to India to the controversial decision on procuring 70 AC coaches. They said the decision on AC coaches was taken following the team's visit to India, when the big neighbour expressed the inability to supply the non-AC coaches. They said the BR came under fire from different quarters as the AC coaches were found technically unsound and suitable for the Railway's existing structure. The BR has only two viable routes in the country's western region for AC coaches, for which the experts say seven to eight coaches are enough. However, BR officials would not admit that the decision on AC coaches was cancelled in the face of criticism. It was not anyway related to any criticism, rather the authority took the decision to revive the first plan as the Indian AC coaches and DEMUs were found not suitable for the BR infrastructure, they said. When asked about the reversal of decision on non-AC coaches, the officials said the situation is now changed and the neighbour has already expressed its ability to meet the BR's earlier demand. The BR has already taken measures to revise the project proposal on the 125 non-AC coaches. Before that the railway will have to seek the Prime Minister's approval to that end. The officials said the cost and the number of non-AC coaches to be procured had been under review. The Railway had planned to purchase the AC coaches at a cost of Tk 9.14 billion. Under the LoC, the BR has several projects including procurement of 165 tank wagons, 26 BG locomotives and 81 metre-gauge tank wagons. The officials said the BR already received almost all the tankers and locomotives and it would take few more years to complete the total procurement. The BR has been struggling over the years to render services due to its shortage of passenger coaches, locomotives and manpower. It still has a shortage of over 200 passenger coaches against the total demand for 550 across the country. Of the $1.0 billion LoC, the BR has undertaken 14 projects to upgrade its infrastructure and services.