Ensuring hassle-free journey

Khalilur Rahman Home-bound passengers on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha festival have been undergoing sufferings in course of their journey by train, bus or river vessels. Despite repeated assurances given earlier by the authorities concerned of a hassle-free journey, the Eid-goers find themselves in the midst of a variety of harassments starting from buying tickets to boarding trains, buses and launches. In every stage there is a crisis. Particularly, the railway passengers had to wait in stations as the trains were behind schedule by five to eight hours. The Bangladesh Railway (BR) blamed the dislocation in schedule for torching Egaro Sindur Express by agitated people protesting the murder of Lokman Hossain, mayor of Narsingdi Municipality on November 2. Burning of Egaro Sindur Express and blocking railway track by angry people after mayor Lokman's killing seriously disrupted rail communication on Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Noakhali routes. Communications minister Syed Abul Hossain visited Kamalapur Railway Station on Wednesday and assured crowd of passengers of restoring normalcy in railway service within a couple of days. Earlier the BR announced sale of tickets for November 2 to 6 period from October 27 to November 1. Press reports say many people who waited in long queues at Kamalapur Railway Station for buying tickets returned home disappointed, alleging that those who paid extra money to the persons at the counters got tickets. Some complained that they could not buy tickets even waiting for a whole day since early morning. Again on the following day they tried in vain to procure tickets as, it is alleged, large number of tickets had gone to the black market. The Kamalapur Railway Station Manager dismissed the allegation as baseless and claimed that tickets were sold through counters. During his visit to Kamalapur Station Abul Hossain also advised the passengers to travel by bus or launch until the railway communication returns to normal. A private TV channel broadcast live on the night of November 2 the plight of passengers inside the compartments at Kamalapur Railway Station. The video footage showed the compartments were heavily crowded with men, women and children. Some passengers were complaining that they could not use toilets because of people inside those. Some of them alleged that they had to purchase tickets from black market as those were not available at railway counters though they waited in long queues for hours. As regards railway sector people find no hope for immediate relief in travelling by train, the biggest public sector transport system, though the communications minister had pledged early this year that the country would have a new and modern railway communication network by 2012. The minister said that move was underway to modernise railway and such initiative was not taken during the last one century. The minister's assertion to modernise the railway is a matter to be seen in future. The passengers travelling by the train, however, have a different tale to tell. They feel that journey by this cheaper means of transport is gradually becoming risky. Head-on collision of trains due to wrong signalling, de-railing of compartments and accidents at level-crossings are taking place often. Services rendered to the passengers are far from satisfactory. The railway stations in many places are understaffed. The number of trains on a large number of routes has decreased considerably. Dislocation in railway communication before the ensuing Eid-ul-Azha forced passengers to travel by launch and bus. The launches which set sail from Sadarghat terminal were overcrowded and the passengers undertook the journey by risking their lives. On the other hand, the road communication also did not offer a good alternative for the home-bound people. Thousands of passengers were caught in a 60-km-long gridlock on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway Thursday (November 3). The tailback lasted for about ten hours. The passengers, particularly women and children, had a nightmarish experience without food and water. In Manikganj, over 400 vehicles were found waiting at Aricha and Paturia terminals for ferries till late in the evening of Thursday. The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) personnel were trying hard to tackle the problem arising out of the movement of large number of vehicles due to Eid festival. We hope the BIWTC will, in consideration of the rush of vehicles during festival like this, take adequate measures beforehand to tackle the problem before it goes out of control. On our part, we pray for safety of innumerable passengers now on way to meet their loved ones and wish them EID MUBARAK. (E-mail: khalilbdh@gmail.com)