Imports via freight trains surge
Transportation of goods from India to Bangladesh via freight trains doubled in the last fiscal year as the route is cost-effective and saves time.
Bangladesh Railway (BR) transported 36.93 lakh tonnes of goods from the neighbouring country in 2020-21, up 126 per cent from 16.34 lakh tonnes a year ago, data from the BR showed.
The railway's income from the cross-border trade also set a record in the year.
The state-run transport agency clocked 120 per cent growth in earnings at Tk 167.74 crore in FY21, which was Tk 76.59 crore in the preceding fiscal year.
BR earned Tk 96 crore revenue in fiscal 2018-19, down 9 per cent from Tk 105 crore the previous fiscal. Bangladesh Railway blogged Tk 98 crore in fiscal 2016-17, data by BR showed.
"This is the highest income for the BR from the transportation of goods from India in a single year," Shafiqur Rahman, director for traffic of the BR, told The Daily Star yesterday.
The movement of goods by trains from India is cost-effective than carrying them by trucks. In addition, carrying goods via trains takes less time than trucks, making it popular.
Besides, freight trains often bring goods from the far-flung Indian provinces, which are almost inaccessible for trucks. Transportation of bulk amount of goods is also not possible through trucks, business people and BR officials said.
The BR operates 130 to 140 freight trains every month to bring goods from India through four interchange stations, namely Benapole, Darshana, Rohanpur and Birol.
Another interchange station at Chilahati is likely to be operational from next month, Rahman said.
Besides, Bangladesh and India formally started operating commercial container trains in July last year, aiming to boost cross-border trade.
The BR mainly brings rice, wheat, stones, fly ash, poultry feed, and bolder.
The coronavirus pandemic has contributed to the sharp rise in goods transportation from India, said an official of the BR.
There has been a huge demand for freight trains. But the BR cannot provide enough locomotives and freight coaches even during normal times.
As the operation of passenger trains has remained suspended for a long time because of the pandemic, the BR was able to use the workforce and locomotives to run freight trains, he added.
The railways also received 10 locomotives from India in July last year as a gift to overcome the locomotive shortage. Bangladesh is using them to carry goods as well. Still, the engine shortage persists.
"There is a monthly demand for around 300 freight trains. But we can operate around 150 trains because of a lack of workforce, infrastructure and other facilities," the official said.
Chitta Majumder, managing director of Majumder Group of Industries, one of the biggest rice millers and importers in Bangladesh that often brings goods from India via trains, said the cost of goods transportation from India by trucks was around three times the cost charged by trains.
Carrying rice through trains costs Tk 0.60 to Tk 0.70 per kg, which is about Tk 2.50 per kg if they are brought by trucks, he said.
Besides, each goods-laden truck has to wait around 22 to 24 days at the border to enter Bangladesh due to a lack of capacity of the land ports on the Bangladesh side.
On the other hand, it takes five to six hours to bring goods from Kolkata to Bangladesh, Majumder said.
"However, we are not getting enough trains."
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