Unfit to be called a railway station

Rafiqul Islam's family was waiting for a Dhaka-bound train, "the Sundarban" in Jashore railway station at 10:00 pm on Sunday.  

They were standing on the platform because there was no chair to sit on, said Rafiqul.

Rafiqul, his wife and their 5-year-old daughter were all weary because they had been standing in the station from 9 pm.    

"Apart from the shortage of benches, there is no hygienic toilet at the station. Moreover, we have guard our luggage at night because thieves and drug addicts might steal them,'' Rafiqul said in frustration while waiting for the train. 

When two trains arrive at the station at the same time, one of them has to wait for half an hour or more to get a green signal to pass, because there is only a single railway-track on the Khulna-Jashore rail route.

Eleven passenger trains and two cargo trains use the station daily, according to the chart at Jashore railway station. 

More than 4000 passengers use the station, but there are only 20 chairs for passengers in two waiting rooms. So most passengers have to stand and wait. Their suffering increase when trains get delayed.

There are only two toilets for commuters, but both of them are unusable. 

Passengers, especially women and children, suffer a lot because of the lack of a hygienic washroom at the station.  

There is no gate keeper at nine level-crossings out of 52 on the Khulna-Jashore rail route, making the unmanned level crossings unsafe.  

In addition, local people have made 40 more makeshift level-crossings for light vehicles to cross the railway line.

Though there are 22 railway stations on the route, six of them are closed because of a shortage of service personnel. 

The six unused railway stations are Fultala, Checngutiya, Rupdiya, Jashore cantonment, Merullah Nagar and Ansarbaria on the Khulna-Jashore rail route. 

Saifur Rahman, a local resident, said he uses the train to commute to his office in Jashore city every day. He is scared of getting mugged when he returns home by train every evening. 

"We are always worried about muggings and robbery at the station at dawn and at night,'' he added. 

"The lack of seats and of clean toilets are a particular cause of concern, especially for children, women and elderly people," Saifur further added. 

Md Syeduzzaman, the station master at Jashore Railway Station also admitted that the allegations are true. 

"The single track is the main reason for trains being delayed. They have to go slow to avoid accidents," said Mahbub Hasan, the deputy assistant engineer of Jashore Railway Station. 

The diagram at the station reveals that there is only a single railway-track on the 93-kilometre long Khulna-Jashore-Benapole rail route. 
 
Trains are delayed because of the lack of a double set of railway-tracks. The number of accidents is also increasing because of there are no gatekeepers at many level-crossings, especially at 40 makeshift level-crossings, said Mahbub Hasan.