Strained rail capacity leaves Ctg port yard overflowing
Besides, a spell of labour unrest at Chattogram port in the first week of the month and subsequently election-related disruptions fuelled the congestion, said sources at the port
Highlights:
-
Chattogram yard congestion exceeds capacity amid rail shortages
-
Labour unrest and elections worsened container backlog
-
Rail locomotive and manpower shortages disrupt freight services
-
Exporters face week-long delays and higher port charges
-
Railway capacity expansion lags despite major spending
-
Most containers move by road; rail share declining
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Container congestion at the Chattogram Goods Port Yard has intensified due to a lack of required freight containers, locomotives, and, after all, manpower of the Bangladesh Railway.
Besides, a spell of labour unrest at Chattogram port in the first week of the month and subsequently election-related disruptions fuelled the congestion, said sources at the port.
The container jam at the port yard surged to more than 1,831 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) against its capacity of over 800 TEUs during the strike. As of yesterday afternoon, there were 1,352 TEUs at the yard.
Businesses fear that the crisis may further worsen at the end of Ramadan if priority shifts towards passenger services.
When contacted, Shamsuddin Ahmed Chowdhury, general secretary of Bangladesh Container Shipping Association, told The Business Standard, "We have spoken to the port authorities, and they have communicated with the railway authorities. However, due to limitations in railway capacity, congestion is a constant issue."
Demand for freight transport has increased alongside growing import and export volumes, yet rail capacity has effectively shrunk. When trains do not operate according to demand, importers and exporters face delays and must bear additional port charges, he said.
According to data from the Chattogram Port Authority, a letter was sent to Bangladesh Railway on 11 February, requesting the operation of four trains daily to transport 200 TEUs. However, no formal response has yet been received.
Although four additional trains have been prepared, schedules remain uncertain due to a shortage of locomotives. Each train has roughly 200 containers ready to be dispatched to Dhaka.
Currently, a maximum of three container trains operate daily on the route. On some days, none depart at all due to shortages of engines and manpower. Just a year ago, three to four container trains operated regularly.
To transport fuel oil, stone, food grains, and industrial raw materials from the port yard to Dhaka, a total of 15 locomotives are required. Yet only seven are regularly available.
Container trains travelling from the port yard to the Dhaka Inland Container Depot move at an average speed of 45 kilometres per hour, taking between 18 and 22 hours to reach their destination. Each train can carry twenty-foot-long 64 containers. Due to reduced train frequency, exporters now wait nearly a week for a shipment slot compared to just two days a year ago.
CPA Secretary Syed Refayet Hamim said, "We have written to the railway authorities, highlighting concerns including price volatility during Ramadan and requesting daily transport of 200 TEUs. We are still awaiting feedback."
According to officials from Bangladesh Railway's Transport and Mechanical Engineering Department, operating all scheduled trains requires more than 3,000 coaches and nearly 300 locomotives, but it has over 2,500 coaches and 300 engines, but not all are operational.
Currently, just over 2,000 coaches and slightly more than 200 locomotives are functional. Under the Eastern Zone (Chattogram), there are 1,131 operational coaches and 76 active engines. To fully operate both active and currently suspended services in the zone, at least 116 more locomotives and 1,500 coaches are needed.
Despite spending nearly Tk1 lakh crore over the past decade on railway development, Bangladesh Railway has added only around 800 coaches and 30 locomotives to its fleet. Some of the newly procured heavy engines cannot operate on older rail bridges, limiting their deployment. A fresh initiative to import 300 more locomotives is underway, though delivery is expected to take at least two years.
While new rail lines have been constructed, the shortage of engines and coaches has prevented the railway from operating trains at the required capacity, causing losses of nearly Tk2,000 crore yearly, according to railway sources.
At present, just 2% of containers handled at CPA move by rail, less than 1% by waterways, and the remaining 97% by road. In fiscal year 2023-24, 88,000 TEUs were transported via rail, including both loaded and empty containers.
Railway data show that in fiscal year 2022-23, some 92,828 containers carrying 826,332 tonnes of goods were transported by rail. That figure declined to 80,719 containers carrying 790,536 tonnes in FY2023-24.
Freight transport remains the primary revenue source for the railway's Eastern Zone. In FY2023-24, total freight revenue stood at Tk152.66 crore, of which container transport alone accounted for Tk114.69 crore. The previous fiscal year saw slightly higher freight revenue at Tk153.88 crore.
Mohammad Shahidul Islam, chief operating superintendent (Eastern Zone) of Bangladesh Railway, said measures were being taken to ensure freight services remain as normal as possible during Ramadan.
