Tk 24,000cr projects to revamp railway

Railways Minister Suranjit Sengupta yesterday said projects worth around Tk 24,000 crore were taken to revive the railway sector, improve its services and reduce its losses.
“We do not want to make profits but we can not afford the huge loss the railway is incurring every year. Our target is to take the railway to a no profit, no loss state,” he said.
The minister, however, did not explain how the sector's rising losses, around Tk 750 crore each year, would be minimised.
Suranjit was addressing as chief guest a seminar, “Revamping Railway: Challenges and Opportunities”, organised by the English daily The Independent at BEL Tower in the city chaired by the newspaper’s Editor Mahbubul Alam.
He said the government approved the projects, under which locomotives and coaches would be procured and tracks and signal systems would be improved.
Constructing broad-gauge tracks over the Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Narayanganj routes and two more tracks on Dhaka-Tongi route, which already has two, and introducing commuter trains in Dhaka were among the major projects, he said.
“Many of the projects are being implemented with the help of Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Indian line of credit,” he said.
The minister cited bureaucratic tangles and shortage of funds and manpower as the major obstacles still hindering the sector's development.
However, he expressed hope that the revamping steps taken by the government would restore the sector's past glory and people's confidence in the services.
Presenting a keynote at the seminar, Prof Moazzem Hossain of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology explained the appalling situation of the rail and riverine transport services in spite of being sustainable and cheaper modes of transport.
“The railway sector must be expanded and improved if the government wants to materialise its Vision 2021,” he added.
BGMEA acting president Nasiruddin Chowdhury requested the government to engage more locomotives in carrying containers from Chittagong port to Dhaka. “Currently it takes 18 days to bring a container as there are only two locomotives plying the route.”
Lawmakers Rumanan Mahmood and Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, Prof Sarwar Jahan, Bangladesh Railway Director General Abu Taher, the ministry Secretary Fazle Elahi, News Today Editor Reazuddin Ahmed, BSS Chief Editor Ehsanul Karim, former ambassador Ashfaqur Rahman and The Independent Assistant Editor Prof Harunur Rashid also spoke at the seminar.