Strengthening railways

A Bangladeshi employed with the Swedish railway for the last 20 years said the other day only eight trains running round-the-clock from Uttara to Gulistan via Mirpur could relieve hundreds of thousands of Dhakaites of the limitless agony they suffer daily in attending their offices or doing their daily chores.
At a time when long gridlocks on different highways delay carrying of consignments to and from Chittagong and Mongla Ports, the need for railways instantly flashes in the businessmen's minds. And travellers, too, suffer immensely due to such traffic jams on the highways.
But who is there to care about the railways? Train communication rarely hits the headlines except in times of political turmoil when fishplates are removed or when accidents take place or scams are reported. The entire nation had seen sensational news on mountains of money taken as bribe for recruitment of employees in the railways and carried through city roads not long ago. At one point of time, common people, after witnessing extensive TV footage and reading newspaper reports, had an impression that the Railway Bhaban has just turned into a mere money-making centre by its corrupt officials.   
In 1947, Bangladesh had 600 km of roads and 2,858 km of railway tracks. Now the country has over 50,000 km of roads, but only 2,835 km of railway tracks. After independence, the Bangladesh Railway (BR) had 486 locomotives, 1,646 coaches and 16,503 wagons. The respective numbers now are 286, 1,503 and 9,700. Interestingly, the number of stations has increased to 440 from 270 since 1972. This has reduced the speed of trains.
At the time of independence, the railways used to carry about 30 per cent of the total commuters. Now it carries just four per cent. About 98.6 per cent of the present train commuters are poor. It proves that the railways are the friendliest mode of transport for the common people.
It took years for Bangladesh to conceive of the concept of metro rail in Dhaka city  but there is still no real progress in sight. The authorities are just sitting on the files on Mass Rapid Transit (MRT). Hundreds of thousands of commuters, caught in severe traffic jams on Dhaka city roads, daily hurl abusive remarks at those who preside over the destiny of the nation for failing to remove nauseating gridlocks.
Extensive railway networks, both inside Dhaka city and across the country, could have gone a long way in easing transportation problem at a much lower cost. Supply chains of essentials could have been smooth if carried through railways to all the major markets in urban and rural centres of the country. Artificial shortages could have been avoided with middlemen and other vested groups kept at bay.      
Let us take, for an instance, the plight of train commuters in the East Zone of the Bangladesh Railway (BR). Poor but lucky passengers are deprived of minimum amenities the railway authorities are to provide to the passengers. The Citizen's Charter pasted in the railway headquarters promising better services now appears to be cracking a crude joke.
The commuters of East Zone of the BR these days experience poor facilities on board trains that witness day-by-day reduction in the number of passengers. The indifference of the railway authorities to maintaining standards of service has led to such a decrease of the members of passengers.
As most passengers are not aware of their on-board facilities, the train employees allegedly do not provide proper amenities for them. The commuters allege that they have to purchase food at a higher rate than what is fixed by the BR. The railway authorities attribute lack of manpower in the sector to the fall of service standard on board the train.
A total of 192 intercity, local, mail, circular and demu trains are regularly plying through Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions under the zone, while 26 more trains are running between Dhaka and other divisions of BR (West) zones and India.
The Citizen's Charter put up in the railway website clearly says, passengers have to be provided with necessary amenities while they are on board, but most facilities are unavailable in the trains.
The vital need for modernisation of the railways in Bangladesh surfaces when investors grumble over the failure of the country in smoothening connectivity to seaports and airports.
The potential of the railway in Bangladesh needs to be unlocked through planned investment in tracks, signalling, rolling stock, maintenance and human resources. The government should take initiative to prepare long-term Railway Master Plan to guide the overall development of the BR in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, more areas of Bangladesh need to be covered under railway networks to make transportation of men and materials smooth and less costly.  
arjayster@gmail.com