Bangladesh Railway suspends four train services to avoid vandalism
A few more train services will also be suspended, Bangladesh Railway Additional Director General (Operations) Sardar Shahadat Ali told the media on Friday
Bangladesh Railway announced the suspension of four local, mail and commuter trains running at night to avoid vandalism following the Mohanganj Express fire incident.
It is difficult to provide security for trains running at night in remote areas, especially on branch lines, Bangladesh Railway Additional Director General (Operations) Sardar Shahadat Ali said on Friday (22 December).
So, a few trains have been suspended from 22 December and a few more will also be suspended, he added.
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The suspended train services are: A local train on the Ishwardi-Rajshahi-Rohanpur route, a mail train on Rajshahi-Parvatipur route, the last round trip on Dhaka-Narayanganj route, and a mail train from Mymensingh to Bhuapur.
Shahadat Ali said the passengers of all trains are already at risk because there are no doors and windows. A large part of the railway manpower now works in line and infrastructure security.
In this situation, these trains are being stopped temporarily due to security issues as well as manpower and rolling stock shortage.
Meanwhile, the route of Inter-city Jamuna Express, running between Dhaka-Tarakanda, has been shortened.
The train started running between Dhaka-Jamalpur on 15 December; the Jamalpur-Tarakanda route has been closed.
Bangladesh Railway Western Region General Manager Asim Kumar Talukder told the media the train services suspended mainly run at night.
"We cannot provide security, so we suspended the services. We are doing everything necessary to make trains safe," he added.
From now on, a train will be sent first for piloting; later the main train will come following it, the official said.
He also said the engines and manpower of the suspended train services will be used in intercity trains.
There have been a number of incidents across the country where buses and trains have been vandalised or set on fire amid the political tumult in the country.
The Mohanganj Express train was set on fire on 19 December, resulting in the death of four people, including a mother and a child.
On the same day, a group of unidentified people pelted stones at a compartment of the Intercity Meghna Express bound for Chandpur from Chattogram.
However, there were no casualties.
