3 new rail lines open, but not enough manpower, rolling stock

The Bangladesh Railway is launching rail operations on three additional routes – Dohazari-Cox's Bazar, Khulna-Mongla Port, and the Padma Bridge rail link from Kamalapur-Bhanga – amid a severe shortage of locomotives, coaches and wagons along with a critical manpower crisis which has been disrupting railway services for years.

Rail officials say the railway has proposed creating more than 3,500 new posts for the maintenance and service management of the three new lines spanning a length of 335 km. But the Ministry of Public Administration has not responded positively yet.

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In this situation, the railway has planned to start services on these lines by borrowing personnel from other sections.

Transport experts say the new railway lines, built at a cost of Tk62,861 crore, will be difficult to operate with the existing manpower and resources. The quality of service on other sections of the railway will also fall.

According to the Bangladesh Railway, more than one-fourth of its stations are currently closed due to a manpower crisis caused by more than 23,000 vacant posts.

On the other hand, despite launching 143 new trains and increasing the route length of 44 trains since 2009, the railway has only added 22 locomotives to its fleet during this period. As a result, it currently operates 402 trains daily with 308 locomotives, of which more than a dozen are defective, making it difficult to run trains on time.

According to the railway ministry, around 60% of locomotives, 47% of passenger coaches, and 67% of wagons have reached the end of their economic life.

Acknowledging the crisis, Md Quamrul Ahsan, director general of the Bangladesh Railway, said the railway could not ensure balanced development of rolling stock supply and manpower recruitment along with line construction.

He said as a result of the coach and manpower shortage, the railway may not be able to provide full rail service on the new lines initially.

Instead, it will launch services with its existing manpower and rolling stock, and gradually increase the number of trains on the new lines as manpower and rolling stock become available, he added.

New lines facing resource shortage

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the 88km railway line from Kamalapur to Bhanga on 10 October. Commercial rail services on this line commenced on 1 November.

The prime minister also inaugurated the Khulna-Mongla port link along with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the first day of this month.

Meanwhile, the Dohazari-Cox's Bazar rail line will be inaugurated by the prime minister on 11 November, said Siraj-ud-Doula khan, public relation officer of the ministry of railways.

Railway project documents reveal that 60 passenger trains and 22 freight trains will run daily on the three new railway lines, requiring at least 36 new locomotives.

The three new lines require 408 passenger coaches, but only 100 have been purchased. Some of the existing coaches have been added to trains on other lines.

Additionally, 365 new wagons are needed to transport goods on the two new lines, 225 wagons for the Dohazari-Cox's Bazar line and 140 wagons for the Padma Bridge line.

Under the project, 100 broad-gauge coaches have been procured, and the procurement of 200 metre-gauge coaches is underway.

Buet's Accident Research Institute Director Dr Shamsul Haque said there is much less interest in using infrastructure to ensure quality services than in constructing it.

He warned that the huge public investment in constructing new railway lines without ensuring quality service would be a waste of money.

He further said increasing the speed of trains could improve service quality, even with existing rolling stock.

Manpower crisis derailing service

According to the railways ministry, currently the operational manpower of the railways, including the posts of station master, loco master (driver), porter, level crossing gateman, etc, lack necessary manpower.

Bangladesh Railway currently has 47,637 sanctioned posts, but only 24,500 people are employed, leaving a gap of 23,137 in manpower.

Padma Bridge Rail Link Project Director Md Afzal Hossain said that the railway has sent letters to the public administration ministry requesting the creation of new posts for the three new lines, but the request has not yet been approved. The ministry has advised the railway to run the new services with existing manpower, without creating new posts.

Dr Hadiuzzaman, professor of civil engineering at Buet, said the railway should recruit for all the posts in the approved organogram.

He also expressed doubts about the profitability of the conventional railway system, even with a large workforce. He suggested increasing the participation of private operators in railway management.

Slow progress in procurement projects

Officials say the railway is facing locomotive and coach shortages due to the slow progress in projects to procure rolling stock.

The Railway Director General said the department is facing a crisis mainly due to complications in several projects, including the purchase of 200 coaches.

Bangladesh Railway is procuring 40 broad gauge locomotives, 75 metre gauge and 50 broad gauge luggage vans, and 580 metre gauge and 420 broad gauge wagons under the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded "Bangladesh Railway Rolling Stock Operation Development (Rolling Stock Procurement)" project.

Additionally, the European Investment Bank (EIB) is financing the procurement of 200 broad gauge passenger coaches, according to the railways ministry.

The procurement of 200 metre gauge passenger carriages, which began in 2016 with an allocation of Tk928 crore, has only spent Tk1 crore as of last month. The railway is seeking a new source of funding, as China's financing is uncertain despite being scheduled to end in June.

The procurement project of 20 metre gauge diesel electric locomotives and 150 metre gauge passenger carriages, which began in 2017 with an allocation of Tk1,799 crore, is also progressing slower than expected.

Despite three extensions, the project has only achieved 84.21% of progress so far. Likewise, several other rail procurement projects are progressing slowly.

PM's directives not followed

In March 2016, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered all closed railway stations in the country to be reopened within a year. However, the annual report of the Ministry of Railways revealed that this order could not be implemented due to a manpower shortage.

Another 118 railway stations are currently closed due to a lack of manpower. The Ministry of Railways claims that the process of recruiting manpower for these stations is ongoing and that the remaining closed stations will be reopened after the recruitment is complete.

The prime minister promised in 2011 that the Dhaka-Lalmonirhat intercity train would be extended to Burimari. But it was not put into effect due to the same crisis.