Bangladesh receives 20 locomotives from India

India has handed over 20 diesel-powered broad gauge locomotives to Bangladesh Railways as grant to ease the country's ongoing crisis of rail engines.

The locomotives entered Darshana railway station in Bangladesh from Gede station in India on Tuesday afternoon.

Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan and his Indian counterpart Ashwini Vaishnaw connected virtually and completed the handover process.

Nurul Islam Sujan said this a token of friendship and Bangladesh's relationship with India will be strengthened through railway communication.

He said that India's railway system has been converted to broad gauge. "Bangladesh is also taking such a decision. Gradually all lines will be broad gauge."

India's Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnab said that increasing multi-directional connectivity is a priority for the governments of the two countries.

He also remarked that railway connectivity has the potential to transform the economy of both countries as well as the entire region.

He mentioned that Bangladesh is India's largest development partner of $10 billion.

Under the Indian line of credit, projects in the railway sector at a cost of $300 million have already been completed and projects worth more than $1.69 billion are in various stages of implementation, he added.

According to railway sources, while selecting the engines from India, it has been taken into consideration whether they will be compatible with the overall railway network of Bangladesh including railway tracks, stations, and signal systems.

Following the execution of an agreement between India and Bangladesh, the broad gauge engines were brought into the country after detailed verification of specifications, import clearance, customs duty, VAT and tax procedures, they said.

Earlier in 2020, Bangladesh received 10 broad gauge locomotives as a grant from India. The earlier locomotives are currently plying the western route.

Humayun Kabir, secretary at the Ministry of Railways, and Indian High Commissioner Pranay Kumar Verma were present during the handover process.

Locomotives in Bangladesh

According to Bangladesh Railways sources, there are 315 locomotives of meter gauge and broad gauge in the railway fleet.

Railways are currently operating around 400 trains with these engines.

However, the number of running engines is only 271. The majority of the engines in the fleet have reached the end of their economic life.

Although the economic life of railway engines is fixed at 20 years, most of the engines are over 40 years old.

Most of the trains cannot run at the desired speed on these old engines.