40pc railway land occupied illegally

Over 40 percent of the land belonging to Bangladesh Railway (BR) has been encroached over the years, proper use of which could make the railway a very profitable sector, speakers told a roundtable yesterday.
The railway sector has the potential to be developed as the cheapest and most convenient mass transport system of the country, they said.
The roundtable on 'Role of railway in the development of economy, communication, and budget' was organised by Rail Unnayan Jote, Save Environment Movement (SEM) and Work for a Better Bangladesh Trust (WBB) at the National Press Club.
It was pointed out in the keynote speech that out of a total 63,127 acres, 25,456 acres of land belonging to the railway authority has been encroached.
The railway sector has been largely ignored and neglected since the independence of the country, speakers said pointing out that different organisations owe a total amount of Tk 12,000 crore to Bangladesh Railway in unpaid costs for carriage of goods.
Along with budget constraints the railway is also weighed down with various other problems which diminish the immense possibility of this sector, speakers said.
Past governments and development policy makers concentrated on developing the road networks rather than developing the potential of the railway sector, they pointed out.
Presenting the keynote speech, Syed Mahbubul Alam of SEM pointed out that the rail network in the country has not been expanded since the British left the continent in 1947. The number of employees, train engines and coaches of the sector is also on the decline though the number of commuters continues to climb.
In 1972 BR had 500 engines. The number has come down to 285 now. While BR had 16,100 wagons in after the liberation war in 1971, at present there are only 9,473.
The railway now operates with rundown locomotives, most of which were procured about 40 years ago. BR currently has 285 locomotives.
Alam pointed out that the transport cost of railway is also the cheapest among all other modes. The travel expense per kilometre by rail was Tk 0.38 in 2007, less than half the travel cost per kilometre by bus at Tk 0.87.
Journey by trains is also comparatively safe. While rail accidents cost a total of 528 lives in 2007, 3,595 people died in road accidents in the same year.
Abdul Matin Chowdhury, Director of BR, said the railway could play a very important role in the development of a country's economy by providing a cheap transport system. A total of 5.38 crore commuters used the railway during the last fiscal year, he said.
Speaking as special guest at the gathering, Prof Dr AMM Shafiullah, Vice-chancellor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) said, the railway could be the best transport for the poor.
He suggested establishment of multimode transportation and especially the improvement of the network between different ports and railways. Coordination between the railway, road networks and waterways is urgently necessary to improve communication across the country, he said.
Among others, chairman of Bangladesh Economic Association Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman, Abu Naser Khan and chairman SEM and Commissioner of Dhaka Division Khondokar Shawkat Hossain also spoke on the occasion.