Locomotive crisis to deepen further

While Bangladesh Railways is already struggling with more than 70 percent of its locomotives being old, it may face further issues as two of its projects, to buy or overhaul 91 locomotives, are going to be cancelled.

The Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division last month suggested "ending the incomplete" BR projects, meaning the two long-delayed projects will now be cancelled, officials said.

One project was to procure 70 meter-gauge (MG) locomotives, while the other was to overhaul 21 MG locomotives to mitigate the growing crisis of rail engines.

The railways ministry has already written to the authorities concerned to not include these two in the list of projects in the 2023-24 Annual Development Programme (ADP), they said.

"We will have to face serious troubles following the cancellation of the two projects, because we would now require four-five years to buy new locomotives under a new project," BR Director General Quamrul Ahsan told The Daily Star yesterday.

According to latest documents of BR, the state-run transport agency has 171 MG locomotives, of which 82 percent are old or "overaged". Of its 92 broad-gauge (BG) locomotives, 55 percent are overaged.

In August 2011, the government took up a Tk 1,946 crore project to procure 70 MG locomotives, which were supposed to be added to the BR fleet within June 2017.

The deadline was extended twice before the project went through a major revision in 2018, when the cost jumped to Tk 2,659.33 crore with the deadline reset for June 2024.

In October 2018, BR signed a deal with South Korean Hyundai Rotem Company for the procurement of the locomotives. As per the agreement, the company was supposed to arrange the required funds.

But in 2021, Hyundai sought to pull out from the project after the government asked it to manage soft loans instead of non-concessional ones as agreed by both sides earlier.

In this given situation, the IMED on April 5 suggested the projects be ended, a BR official said. Meanwhile the project authorities have already spent Tk 5.15 crore for the works.

On the other hand, ECNEC in July 2019 approved the other project meant for overhauling 21 MG locomotives at a cost of Tk 242.14 crore with a deadline set for June 2022.

The project authority floated tender thrice over the last four years. A proposal was submitted only the first time. That, however, did not meet the requirements, the officials said.

Before the IMED, the Project Implementation and Project Steering committees had suggested ending the projects.

"Around Tk 5.96 lakh was spent for the overhauling of older locomotives, yet the project was not implemented. The government incurred losses, which is not expected," IMED wrote, asking the railways ministry to carry out proper feasibility studies and other preparatory works before taking up any project.

BR DG Quamrul said they would now have to initiate new projects to buy locomotives for the proper functioning of the railways.

"We have to procure locomotives as soon as possible. We are now considering to overhaul 21 locomotives under revenue budget."