Revamping railway under a master plan

A 20-year master plan undertaken for development of the country's railway seems to have the potential to turn it into a truly public transport. Strangely Bangladesh relies heavily on road for transportation of passengers and goods across the country. This does not make sound economic sense. The paradigm shift from road to railway, although belated, is welcome because the approach is pragmatic and has overcome narrow political considerations in the interest of the country and its people. By the look of it, the master plan to be implemented in three stages -short-term, medium-term and long-term -at a total cost of Tk 2,340 billion. Under the plan, 65 projects will be undertaken for implementation in the first two years at a cost of Tk 1,040 billion, a sum equivalent to the government's annual development budget for a couple of years.
Strong arguments were advanced through this column several times in the past in favour of big investment in the country's railway. Clearly, this is big investment and it will do a world of good to the railway as well as the country's mass transportation. It is surprising that a nation boasting 160 million people has so far been fated to railway service marked by a few rickety and risky railway tracks, trains with shabby compartments and poor facilities running at a hurtling pace, undependable signal system and unpredictable schedules for trains' arrival and departure. Goods trains are a rarity.
It is against this background, introduction of electric trains, as planned, on Dhaka-Chittagong railway at a cost of Tk 8,000 crore will catapult the service from its obsolete and century-old rigidity onto a position where passengers will be able to appreciate the value addition to the service. Time saved will be measured by both greater production and income. Laying double railway tracks on different routes and building a number of railway bridges on rivers will definitely increase the railway's carrying capacity. According to the distribution of projects under four five-year plans, no expansion of railway in areas where there is no such facility has been considered. But the master plan envisages bringing almost all districts under railway network. However under the mid-term plan too the emphasis is on construction of double rail lines between points where the tracks cannot handle movement of trains beyond a certain number. What will be a very important addition among 48 projects in this phase covering between 2015-16 and 2019-20 fiscal year is the circular elevated railway all around capital Dhaka. In the third phase some new projects will be undertaken but it is yet to be known if they will go for expansion.
Surprisingly, there is no mention of the elevated expressway that should have by now been nearly completed if the original plan were executed. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was waiting with fund but indecision and lack of initiative at this end brought to a premature end to the possibility of starting work of the proposed expressway last fiscal year. Improvement in mass transportation on long routes must be matched by efficiency in handling far greater number of people who would be arriving on a daily basis at the capital and other cities for business purposes. This will happen because of the increased mobility they will enjoy, thanks to improved railway service. People will have the advantage of coming to the city from long distances and go back after their day's work but during the working hours the cities, particularly the capital, will have to handle a far greater number of people who will be expected to crowd here.
Unless or until the administration is decentralised and commercial ventures and large private companies relocate their offices away from city centres, the rush will continue to mount in Dhaka city and the commercial capital Chittagong. True, people will feel encouraged to live beyond the city limit if satellite towns are set with many of the amenities, including standard educational institutions and health facilities are available there. So, improved communication of a country demands integrated policy formulation with plan for dispersal of development at the grass-roots level. If the number of rickshaw-pullers could be limited to its bare minimum like it is in Kolkata, the slums would not have sprawled in a manner they have done now. Involved here are the livelihoods of a large number of simple village people who naturally would not have moved to towns and cities had they got employment in their known surroundings.
Relocation of factories and industries such as garments units, leather and other environment-pollutant ones from the city centres to exclusive sites away from residential areas has not materialised as yet. But its urgency cannot be overemphasised. Linking the country's railway to the trans-Asian rail route should expand the horizon of the country's manufacturing map. If that happens, the need for staying within the periphery of cities on the part of industries and factories will disappear. They will be able to take full advantage of railway carriages in transporting their products. So, highly advanced railway services will place demands on the allied sector to be equal to their tasks as well. The capital itself must get its acts together in order to deal with heavier rush during office hours. Let the city also have a highly efficient traffic system where railway -expressway, underground metro rail or circular rail or whatever -takes over as the main transport for its busy citizens on the look out for saving their time.
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