Revival of the Gandaria Railway Station
The Gandaria Railway Station was originally built as a part of the rail line established to supply jute to Kolkata from Dhaka and Mymensingh and then discontinued over the last few decades. Now, the station is being brought back to life
If you visit the Gandaria Railway Station, you might be surprised to see that the old, dilapidated building no longer exists. It has been knocked down to build a new building with modern amenities.
"It was a very important station both for both passengers and goods," said Tafazzal Hossain, former director general of Bangladesh Railway, adding, "Goods used to come to Dhaka from different places by waterways at the Postogola siding where they were loaded and unloaded and brought to Gandaria.
[And] from Gandaria, they were sent to different places across the country."
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Taffazal Hossain also said there was an approximately three-kilometre-long siding line (a separate line for goods trains) from Gandaria Railway Station to Postogola on the brink of the Buriganga River.
However, the bustling commercial hubs (Tejgaon and Gandaria) lost their lustre after 1971. Over time, Bangladesh Railway lost its share of goods carriage as road transport became more developed.
But, currently, the government is working on turning Gandaria Railway Station into a two-storey junction station which will connect the Dhaka-Jashore rail line through the Padma Bridge and another railway line will connect to Narayanganj.
A brief history
The first railway line in Dhaka was set up from Narayanganj to Dhaka. The construction work actually began in Narayanganj and gradually finished in Dhaka.
In the past, trains from Sealdah (in Kolkata) came to the Goalanda Ghat. To come to Dhaka, people first came to Narayanganj by steamer from the ghat.
Gandaria Railway Station has a rich history. According to Banglapedia, the growing demand for jute products worldwide created a need for an improved communication system to supply jute from Dhaka and Mymensingh to the port in Kolkata.
As a result, in 1885, a 144 km long metre gauge railway line was established from Mymensingh to Narayanganj, known as the Dhaka State Railway, mainly to bring raw jute to Kolkata by the river. At that time, the Gandaria Railway Station was built as a part of this line.
Soon Gandaria became an important railway station in Dhaka. In fact, after 1885, there were two commercial hubs in Dhaka. One of them was the Tejgaon Railway Station and the other was the Gandaria Railway Station.
Historian Muntassir Mamoon said that Gandaria was a mere suburb when the original station was built. Only a handful of people lived in this area.
The passengers were mostly elites, businessmen, politicians and students. They used this route to go to Kolkata as well. From Dhaka, they went to Narayanganj, from Narayanganj to Goalanda Ghat and then the steamer to Kolkata.
Additionally, the Postogola siding was operative even before 2000. The area is now occupied by people. The railway itself suffers from a lack of manpower, locomotives and wagons. As a result, people are turning away from the railway service.
The new changes
Abu Yusuf Mohammed Shamim, additional chief engineer (works and track) of the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project said that in the past there were two metre-gauge railway lines in the station. As a result, only small-sized metre gauge trains could operate.
Under the new project, the government has established four railway lines. All four will be converted into dual gauges, which means wide broad-gauge, as well as small-sized metre-gauge trains, can operate on the lines. In the past, there was one platform and now two are being built.
One of the platforms will be built with the railway station building while the other will be built as an island platform, which means trains can stop on both sides of the platform.
"Two of the railway lines will remain dedicated to the Dhaka-Narayanganj route, and two others will be dedicated to the Dhaka-Jashore route," said Abu Yusuf.
However, he said that any train can go to any destination as the railway lines are dual gauges. Moreover, the government has been building a two-storey station as there is not enough land in the area.
The old station did not have a waiting room but the new one will have a seating arrangement for passengers. Separate toilet facilities for physically challenged people will be built as well.
A room on the second floor will be turned into a restroom in future. The station will also have a VIP waiting room.
Railway officials said that if passenger pressure increases like the Airport Railway Station, intercity trains may stop at the station.
Transport expert and Buet Professor Shamsul Hoque said that even in this modern time, the railway line has been constructed at a low level instead of an elevated one. So, vehicles will have to wait at the rail crossing for hours.
The new railway station has been built on 500 to 550 square metres of land, which is more than four-fold the land in the past.
Railway official Abu Yusuf Mohammed Shamim said that in general, railway junction stations get a bit more importance, and Gandaria Railway Station will get more importance than in the past because now passengers can travel to different destinations from the station.
The station sits on the side of Doyaganj's main road and it will be encircled by a brick boundary wall for the safety of the trains. Since people won't be able to go directly to this road, an underpass has been built along the station for their convenience.
The two railway lines connecting Narayanganj will open any time soon as the lines are almost ready. The rest of the things are under construction. The authority has to complete the construction by April 2024.
The Ministry of Railways is planning to operate passenger trains from Dhaka to Bhanga (from Kamalapur Rail Station) from September 2023. The officials said that if there is passenger demand, the train can also stop at Gandaria in the same month. However, they are planning to complete the total construction of the station by January next year.
Professor Shamsul Hoque said in the past, Dhaka had only one gateway to enter the city by train. All trains came through the northern side.
He said that there is a large number of people who come to Dhaka from Narayanganj and adjoining areas every day and many of them stopped at the Gandaria Railway Station. So, the new station will bring them some relief.
The people
Haji Bashir lives on Satish Sarkar Road in Gandaria. The road connects the railway station to Keshab Banarjee Road. According to the 70-year-old, the station was once a busy place but over time it lost its significance. However, the people of the area are happy that the new railway station is being built.
Moreover, Haji Bashir said that the price of land adjoining the station area has increased in the last three years. In fact, one owner of such land wanted to sell his plot for Tk3 crore per katha. "But when he [the land owner] saw that the station was being rebuilt, he immediately increased the price," he said.
Haji Bashir believes the new Gandaria Railway Station will be helpful for Old Dhaka-centric business.
A retired school teacher, Ruhul Amin, who has been living in a house next to the railway station since 1975, said that he has not seen the railway being developed till now. The railway authority seemed to make do with the old building.
Even before the suspension of trains on the Dhaka-Narayanganj route, before the construction of the Gandaria Railway Station that began around six months back, 32 trains ran the route from Dhaka to Narayanganj and Narayanganj to Dhaka.
The number of passengers was so many that the railway found it hard to operate the DEMU train on the route. A DEMU train can carry 150 passengers but around 300 passengers would ride the train.
However, Ruhul Amin said that in 1991, the government sold off some of the railway's land to commoners and he bought a plot. But he is happy that the station is being rebuilt.
The justification behind rebuilding the Gandaria Station
The station is being built to provide upgraded facilities to passengers. Although Gandaria Station is not as important as before, the passenger number is still large. Moreover, railway officials said that a station is not always built for passengers and goods, it is also built to ensure smooth control and movement of trains.
