Parcel train service gets poor Response from farmers, traders

Special parcel train service launched by Bangladesh Railway (BR) on three routes of the country on Friday has met with poor response from local farmers and traders, sources said.
They said the initiative taken by the BR to help local farmers and traders in transporting their fruits and vegetables is unlikely to be effective as the farmers prefer road to railway to avoid the hazard of loading and unloading for several times.
"Parcel service may not get good response from the farmers or traders as they have already engaged with the middlemen who are mainly truck owners for carrying goods straight from field to wholesale market," said an official.
He said parcel service which was used to be operated along with passenger trains is limited with the purpose to transport household or personal items.
BR took the decision to operate special parcel trains to facilitate transportation of agricultural produce from different parts as vehicular movement has been restricted during the ongoing lockdown in the country to check the spread of coronavirus. As the passenger trains remained stopped, BR put three vans with an engine on each route.
BR officials said service from Khulna was suspended on the first day for not getting goods for transportation from different stations.
The two other trains from Chattogram to Dhaka and Dewanganj to Dhaka were operated with very limited goods on two vans out of six.
When contacted, West Zone General Manager Mihir Guho told the FE that train service would continue if the BR gets response from local businesses as operating the trains is costly.
"Service will be continue depending on demand from local level," he told the FE over phone.
However, he said BR has taken initiative to make stakeholders aware of service through stationmasters and local agriculture department.
The eastern zone GM said it would take few days to know about the demand for parcel service.
Divisional transport officer of western zone Mohammad Nasir Uddin said stationmasters, local representatives, chambers etc have been contacted to make the people aware of service. He said in the western zone, transportation of banana, bitter gourd, bottle gourd etc from Safdarpur, Ansarbari, Boro Bazar and Mobarakganj is possible through train-based parcel service.
The BR has fixed the timing for parcel service for Chattogram-Dhaka at 10:00 am and Dewanganj-Dhaka at 7:00 pm. BR plans to operate parcel trains from Khulna three days a week starting at 4:45 pm on Friday, Sunday and Wednesday.
The train is supposed to touch Noapara, Jashore, Baro Bazar, Court Chandpur, Safdarpur, Chuadanga, Poradaha, Bheramara, Ishwardi, Muladuli, Lahirimohonpur and Tejgaon stations on both ways.
Though BR has stopped operating passenger trains to contain the spread of coronavirus, the state-owned train operator has been continuing its container service on limited scale to facilitate cargo transportation from the Chattogram port.
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