Railway allocates special trains for Jamaat's national rally in Dhaka

Bangladesh Railway has allocated four special trains to transport participants from Rajshahi, Sirajganj, Mymensingh and Chattogram to Dhaka for Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami's national rally, scheduled for tomorrow (19 July) at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan.

Confirming the arrangement, West Zone Railway General Manager Farid Ahmed said the trains were allocated "as per rules after the payment of advance fare, service charges, and other dues." 

Since the trains are scheduled on their weekly off day (Saturday), there will be no disruption to regular services, he added.

The Rajshahi-Dhaka-Rajshahi train was arranged following an application from Jamaat's Rajshahi metropolitan office secretary. The special service will depart Rajshahi Railway Station at 1am on Saturday and return from Dhaka's Kamalapur Station at 8:15pm the same day.

According to a letter issued on 16 July by Assistant Chief Operating Superintendent (West) Md Abdul Awal, the service will use the weekly-off rake of the 755/756 Madhumati Express. The train will consist of 14 coaches, with a total of 1,179 seats, including 24 AC berth seats and the rest in Shovon Chair class. 

Unlike its usual route via the Padma Bridge, it will operate via the Jamuna Bridge on the day. It will stop at Rajshahi University, Horiyan, and Sardah Road stations in both directions.

Jamaat's Rajshahi Assistant Secretary Md Shahadat Hossain said, "We've completed all preparations for tomorrow's grand rally. From Rajshahi alone, we've reserved one train and 70 buses. At least 25,000 to 30,000 leaders and activists from the city will attend. Our reserved train will depart around 12:30am. From this evening, most of the passengers on any Dhaka-bound train will be our people."

Another special train has been approved for the Sirajganj Bazar–Dhaka–Sirajganj Bazar route. A letter issued on 17 July by Deputy Chief Operating Superintendent-1 Mosammat Arfin Nahar said the 775/776 Sirajganj Express rake, also observing its weekly off day on Saturday, will operate the service.

The train, with 592 seats, including 424 Shovon, 144 Shovon Chair, and 24 First Class, will depart Sirajganj at 6am and return from Dhaka at 11:55pm. It will also travel via the Jamuna Rail Bridge.

As per standard procedure, the services will only run after payment of all applicable charges, the railway said.

Meanwhile, authorities from Railway's east zone have allocated two more trains for carrying leaders and activists of Jamaat to the rally venue.

One of the trains will operate on Dhaka-Chattogram route, while the other will operate on the Dhaka-Mymensingh route, according to Railway authorities.

Jamaat pays Tk12.52 lakh for transportation of party members from Chattogram through special trains

The special train will depart from Chattogram at 10pm tonight (18 July) and will make the return journey from Dhaka's Kamalapur Railway Station at 4pm tomorrow (19 July).

In addition to the special train, the party has also booked 240 economy-class tickets across eight coaches on the Subarna Express and Mahanagar Express trains for the return journey to Chattogram.

The special train will have a total of 1,072 seats, including several AC coaches. According to the Commercial Division of Bangladesh Railway, a 10% surcharge has been added to standard fares for regular coaches, while a 20–30% surcharge applies to AC compartments due to the train being specially chartered.

The total revenue generated by Bangladesh Railway from this arrangement is around Tk12.52 lakh, Bangladesh Railway said.

Confirming the matter, Tausia Ahmed, divisional commercial officer (DCO) of the Railway's eastern zone, said, "The approval was granted as per standard procedures upon receiving the formal request. All bookings have now been finalised."

Sources within Jamaat-e-Islami added that, beyond the special train, hundreds of activists from the districts of Cumilla, Feni, Noakhali, Chandpur, and Brahmanbaria will also travel to the capital by rented buses to attend the rally.

Special trains from Rajshahi, Sirajganj cost Jamaat Tk16 lakh

Farid Ahmed, general manager of Bangladesh Railway's west zone, has said that the rental cost of special trains depends on the number of coaches and seats.

"A special train from Rajshahi — comprising 15 coaches — has cost Tk 12 lakh for a round trip to Dhaka. Meanwhile, another train departing from Sirajganj, with 7 coaches, has been accomodated in exchange of a rental fee of Tk4 lakh," Farid said.

"The train departing from Rajshahi will be the Madhumati Express, and its rental payment has already been completed. On the other hand, the train scheduled to depart from Sirajganj Bazar — Sirajganj Express — is yet to receive its rental payment, although we expect the payment to be made by tonight (18 July)," Farid added.