Bangladesh Railway (BR) will not resume operation of passenger and freight trains until the "situation improves," Railways Minister Zillul Hakim told The Daily Star yesterday.

He, however, could not tell when the situation will improve and railway operations could be resumed.

"…We cannot allow the so-called protesters to destroy our trains, coaches," he said, adding, "All trains will be made operational once the situation is improved."

Rail ministry Secretary Humanun Kabir told The Daily Star and other media on Wednesday that they would resume operation of passenger trains on a very limited scale from yesterday.

But railway authorities on Wednesday night backtracked from the plan and decided not to resume train services.

Asked about the matter, the minister said the secretary might have taken the decision to resume operations "without considering everything".

The minister and BR director general returned to Bangladesh Wednesday evening after a foreign tour.

Meanwhile, inter-district bus and launch services continued to operate during the curfew break yesterday.

"We operated buses from 9:00am to 6:00pm on long-route," Mosharref Hossain, general manager of Hanif Paribahan, told this correspondent yesterday.

Meanwhile around 31 launches left Dhaka Sadarghat Launch Terminal during the curfew break for different destinations in Chandpur, Barguna, patuakhali, Shariatpur and Bhola. Besides, 16 launches reached Dhaka amid the curfew break, said Alamgir Kabir, joint director general of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority.