Bonik Barta photo There are 4,500 kilometer of rail lines across the country. Apart
from Dhaka-Chittagong section, almost every important route is operated on single
track. And, the track handles trains beyond its capacity. As a result, journeys
get longer and train schedule is disrupted every now and then. Against the
background of such a grim picture, Bangladesh Railway (BR) set a target of
upgrading country’s busiest 897km rail lines to double track under the eighth
five year plan (July 2020 to June 2025). Four of five years of the plan have
elapsed but the government organization could upgrade only 85.51km of the track
to double line.
According to BR officials, a huge investment is necessary to
construct double line and the implementation of the plan is being delayed
mainly due to absence of fund. However, experts on communication infrastructure
find errors in development philosophy of the BR. They are of the opinion that there
is no alternative to upgrading the busiest links to double line, but the BR is
walking in the opposite direction. Instead of constructing double line, the
organization is investing in such projects benefits of which are not available
to people. These projects are failing to contribute to the economy of the country.
The experts are citing Ishwardi-Pabna-Dhalarchar and
Gopalganj-Kashiani-Vatiapara sections as examples. Billions were spent on these
routes, but they remain underutilized. On the contrary, Joydevpur-Ishwardi single
track is having to use more than double its capacity. The situation is same in
cases of Joydevpur-Mymensingh-Jamalpur, Khulna-Darshana, Akhaura-Sylhet,
Abdulpur-Parbatipur and Rajshahi-Abdulpur sections.
Under the 8th five year plan, BR set the target to construct double
line on Akhaura-Laksam (72km), Dhaka-Narayanganj (12km), Dhaka-Tongi-Joydevpur (50.8km),
Khulna-Darshana (140.8km), Ishwardi-Joydevpur (187.01km),
Joydevpur-Mymensingh-Jamalpur (144.7km), Akhaura-Sylhet (85km), Abdulpur-Parbatipur
(70km) and Rajshahi-Abdulpur (43km) segments. The organization planned to
construct 45km in 2020-21 fiscal year, 133km in 2021-22, 229.08km in 2022-23,
206.7km in 2023-24 and 190.66km in 2024-25 fiscal. But, it could only construct
85.51km as of December, last year.
Communication infrastructure expert and professor of civil
engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Dr Shamsul
Hoque feels that the busiest rail routes of the country should have been
upgraded to double line long time ago. He told Bonik Barta in this regard, “In
order to make railway profitable, you need to be tactical. And, you need double
line to become tactical. This will allow the operation of more trains and
ensure better passenger services by reducing journey time. The government plans
and master plans on the development of railway only exist in papers.
Development takes place here centering projects. And, as an organization, BR
lacks professionalism in implementing projects.”
According to information gathered from the Ministry of
Railways, BR hired contractor in 2017 to construct double line of 12km-long Dhaka-Narayanganj
rail route. But, BR could not yet complete the construction of only 12km-long
section in such a lengthy time. The timeframe for the project has now been
extended till 2026. Similarly, the construction of double line for
Dhaka-Tongi-Joydevpur under the Indian line of credit (LOC) is still going on.
The project for the construction of double line on
Khulna-Darshana route was approved in 2018, but the work is stuck at preparatory
work at field level. The same applies for Ishwardi-Joydevpur and
Joydevpur-Mymensingh-Jamalpur rail routes.
BR has only been successful in completing Akhaura-Laksam
(72km) project under the 8th five year plan. This is part of Dhaka-Chittagong
rail route. With the completion of this segment, the whole of 321km-long
Dhaka-Chittagong sector was upgraded to double line.
Albeit the experts see lack of professionalism on the part of
BR, officials of the government entity claim that important rail routes are
gradually being upgraded to double line. BR Director General Sardar Shahadat
Ali told Bonik Barta, “All the important rail routes will be upgraded in phases
and different projects are on for that. It is not that all the projects will
implemented as scheduled because these involve huge investment and we have to
depend on development partners like Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank
and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).”
“It is true that we could not advance the work on the construction
of double line as planned. But, in future, we will work in line with our
target,” he said.
