Struggling railway

Transports constitute an important segment of economic activities anywhere in the world. The Bangladesh Railway, a key transportation agency of the country, has been serving a large number of people for a long period. In spite of being an important mode of transportation, it has been suffering from various operating problems. At present the Bangladesh Railway is in poor and inefficient shape.  It is operating with old and malfunctioning equipment which drastically reduced the service quality, productivity as well as customer satisfaction. Trains are running without proper schedule and are often delayed by hours. Overloaded carriages have further worsened the problem. The railway also suffers from shortages of carriages and locomotives.
The trains cannot follow their schedule due to miserable conditions of tracks resulting in frequent derailments. It is causing huge sufferings for the passengers. Sometimes it faces trouble in transporting goods to other regions.
All locomotives need to be maintained regularly. There must be clear rules and procedures to avoid malfunctioning and increase service quality.
The service quality of Bangladesh railways leaves a lot to be desired. Firstly, the interiors of railway compartments are unhygienic, to say the least. No cleanliness routine is maintained. Secondly, The condition of seats is deplorable. Thirdly, people travel on rooftop of the train which is extremely dangerous. Last but not least, quality of food served in the trains is not up to the mark.
Frequents accidents occur. The problems are noticed by everyone, but no long-term work plan is undertaken to stop such accident from happening. Poor maintenance and service quality have now become hallmarks of the railways here. More importantly, quality of service that eroded over the decades, were being continuously ignored.
The present government has undertaken some projects to rectify the defects described above. Hopefully, the problems facing the Bangladesh Railway can be overcome with judicious planning and allocation of budget along with the efforts by conscious members of the public travelling by train. Alongside the government, they should come forward to address some of the problems. It is our responsibility to keep the trains clean and tidy.
The writer is a student of Business Administration, East West University,  Dhaka. [email protected]