Train derails in B'baria as heat bends rail track

Seven carriages of a Dhaka-bound freight train derailed in Brahmanbaria on Thursday at noon after the railway track bent due to searing heat. 

The derailment that took place in the Dariyapur area of the district snapped the upline rail communication from Dhaka to Chattogram and Sylhet.

The train left Brahmanbaria railway station around 1pm and several wheels of seven coaches derailed in the Dariyapur area, said the train's loco master Abu Zafar Siddique Brahmanbaria Railway Station Master Rafiqul Islam. 

The accident occurred mainly because the railway line got bent due to heat, they said.

However, the railway track's technical condition, capacity, maintenance, inspection and the load of the train should also be looked at seriously, they suggested.

The station master added that 500 metres of railway sleepers were buckled in this incident.

Even though the rescue train arrived from Akhaura railway junction station, the rescue team could not start work till 7:30pm due to rain.

Additionally, the accident caused schedule disruption as trains were forced to run on one of the double lines.

A railway team left Dhaka to inspect the incident site but was stuck on route due to schedule disruptions.   

Professor Dr Mohammad Mahbub Alam Talukder of BUET's Accident Research Institute said that heat can not be the sole reason for the derailment. 

"If the accident had happened only because of the heat, there would have been a bigger accident in the previous weeks when the temperatures were even higher," he argued.

The professor said the rate of inspection of railway lines has come down a lot compared to the past. 

Any railway track issues should be detected during inspections before any accidents can occur, he further said.  

An official of the railway engineering department said rail tracks are always hotter than their environment.

Therefore, instructions were issued on 11 April to run trains at a maximum speed of 40km from 11am to evening on several parts of the Dhaka-Chattogram and Dhaka-Sylhet railways, and freight trains at 30km speed.

Moreover, the temperature of rail tracks is regularly measured by six teams.

Earlier on 15 April, Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan announced that the speed of intercity trains across the country will be reduced from 100km to 70km per hour due to the heat.

The minister said the slowing of speed would not disrupt the train schedule before Eid.

Although there were not any major train accidents around Eid, a carriage of a commuter train departing from Rangpur derailed near the Mahendranagar Railway Station area of Lalmonirhat Sadar on 20 April.