5 Chuadanga railway stations shut
The authorities have closed five of the ten railway stations in the district due to shortage of manpower during the last one month, much to the sufferings of thousands of passengers in different areas of the district.
The closed stations are Ansarbaria in Jibonnagar upazila, Joyrampur in Damurhuda, Munshiganj in Alamdanga and Gaidghat and Mominpur in Chuadanga Sadar upazila.
“At present, 12 intercity trains and six mail trains run through the district daily while Dhaka-Kolkata Moitree train passes through Gede-Darshana international railway station four days a week. Besides, goods trains run regularly through the stations in the district,” said Abdul Khaleque, stationmaster of Chuadanga railway station.
“There are no linesman, points-man and even gateman at the recently closed stations. Now only one or two employees are kept to take care of each of the five stations as no passenger trains stop there.
“Only one or two goods carrying train stop there to load and unload goods two days in a week.
“Proposal to recruit manpower for these stations was sent to higher authorities concerned in different times but to no effect,” the stationmaster said.
The district has a long history of train services as train link between Chuadanga and Kolkata started way back in 1866, railway sources said.
Meanwhile, properties of the five closed down stations worth crores of taka face the risk of being stolen due to lack of adequate security and proper upkeep.
“Ansar personnel have been deployed there but it is too inadequate for the requirement,” Khaleque said.
The shutting down of passenger trains has caused dissatisfaction among a large number of passengers, especially those belonging to low income groups.
“Earlier we took cheap train journey to go to the district town and adjacent upazilas for job,” said Khabir Uddin, a construction worker of Munshiganj in Alamdanga upazila.
“Many people like me prefer to travel on train to avoid risks on highways but we are facing trouble due to closure of the stations,” said Shukla Khatun, a housewife of Mominpur village in Chuadanga Sadar.
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