East Zone of Railway suffers Tk 217m loss

CHATTOGRAM, July 27 (UNB): The East Zone of Bangladesh Railway has suffered a loss of Tk 217 million during the nationwide violence that took place alongside anti-quota protests, as 40 bogies of different trains were damaged and four bogies set on fire by miscreants.
This information was revealed by a probe body formed by the Bangladesh Railway. A number of locomotives and bogies were also vandalised during the violence, it said.
On July 18, the quota reform protesters enforced a "complete shutdown". The railway authorities suspended the movement of trains from July 18.
Sushil Kumar Haldar, chief signal and telecommunication engineer of Bangladesh Railway, said a probe body was formed by the East Zone to assess the damage caused by the attacks. "The commercial department suffered the most, followed by the mechanical department," he said.
According to the report, seven compartments of 'Sonar Bangla Express', 13 compartments of 'Chattala Express', six of 'Jamalpur Express', eight of 'Parabat Express' and two of 'Kishoreganj Express' were vandalised during the nationwide violence.
Besides, four compartments of 'Kishoreganj Express' were set on fire while the locomotives of Chattala Express, Kishoreganj Express and Karnaphuli Commuter trains were also vandalised during the mayhem.
Meanwhile, the railway has incurred a huge loss due to the suspension of train movement on different routes as the authorities concerned have decided to return the money for tickets purchased for July 18 to 23, worth around Tk 162.8 million.
The report said that the railway authorities have to refund Tk 117 million to the passengers of Dhaka division under East Zone and Tk 45.8 million to the Chattogram division passengers.
Saiful Islam, Manager of Railway East Zone Division (Chattogram), said, "It is not possible to refund the money for the tickets sold to the passengers until the internet is fully operational."
No decision has been taken yet about the resumption of the train movement, he added.