Railway mulls resuming ‘Mango Special Train’

Bangladesh Railway (BR) is planning to resume its special service -- the Mango Special Train -- this year to ensure smooth and secure transportation of the nation's favourite fruit to its main selling hub in Dhaka.

"We sent a proposal for starting the service from May 25. If approved, it will run between Dhaka and Chapainawabganj via Rajshahi," Mihir Kanti Guha, West Zone General Manager of BR told The Daily Star yesterday.

Transport of mangoes in the special train would cost Tk 1,117 per tonne whereas courier services cost Tk 20,000 per tonne and private trucks cost around Tk 2,000 a tonne, railway officials and mango traders said.

Some railway officials said a circle of courier service operators have become active against the government move to introduce the special train.

They have been 'lobbying hard' with government high-ups to reject the proposal sent to BR headquarters in Dhaka by the west zone, they said.

The train is proposed to leave Chapainawabganj at 4:30pm every day during the season and will take nine and a half hours to reach Dhaka's Kamalapur station at 2am. Railway officials said the special train would have five wagons, each with a 43-tonne capacity.

Other than carrying 150 tonnes of mangoes daily, the train would be sufficient for carrying various other agricultural products, they said.

Last year, the Mango Special Train was launched for the first time in the wake of growers' transportation problems amid the coronavirus pandemic. BR earned Tk 9.30 lakh revenue by transporting 857 tonnes of mango, lychee and other agricultural products.