Panchagarh now the rail capital!

Panchagarh is home to some 11.79 lakh people, representing 0.71 percent of Bangladesh's population, according to the recently published census.

But in terms of railway services, the northernmost district seems to be getting top priority. At the moment, five intercity trains, including three from Dhaka, run to Panchagarh -- the highest among all districts, except for divisional headquarters.

The district started getting such priority only recently.

Until a month before the December 2018 election, the district had no intercity train. In November that year, two intercity trains began their trips to the district from Dinajpur.

The district's rail service saw a major boost after Nurul Islam Sujan, who is from Panchagarh, became rail minister in January 2019. In the last three and a half years, six intercity trains and one inter-country train were added to the railway fleet. Panchagarh got two of the six, and another intercity train service was extended to the district, railway sources said.

These sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the minister deprived other districts by mobilising rail resources disproportionately towards his home district.

During his time, the BR even withdrew a new rake from another train to add it to a Panchagarh-bound train.

A rake is a formation of coupled coaches or cars that makes up a train minus the loco.

In May 2019, the rail ministry changed the name of the erstwhile Panchagarh Station to Bir Muktijoddha Sirajul Islam Railway Station. Sirajul Islam, a former Awami League lawmaker from Panchagarh, is the minister's brother.

Naming a train station after a person is rare – there are only two examples of this. One is Shaheed M Mansur Ali Station in Sirajganj and the other is Advocate Matiur Rahman Station in Jamalpur.

In the meantime, every project undertaken since 2019 for the overall development of the BR is running behind schedule, project documents show.

"Panchagarh seems to be the rail capital of the country because the minister attaches highest priority to it," said a railway official.

Another official said, "It's only normal that Panchagarh will get priority. It's the rail minister's home district, you know."

The minister, however,  dismissed that he has any "Panchagarh-centric policy" and said his decisions were aimed at better connectivity.

About the introduction of a disproportionate number of new train services for his hometown, he said, "Panchagarh is the last destination point [in the north]."

He also spoke of implementing the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project to connect Dhaka with Jashore and building a rail line from Chattogram to Cox's Bazar, although both projects were taken up much before he became rail minister.

"You people are hellbent on writing anything when you have nothing to criticise," he told The Daily Star on October 20 at the Rail Bhaban.

THE BIG SHIFT

Until November 2018, two intercity trains -- Drutojan and Ekata Express -- operated between Dhaka and Dinajpur. That month, the BR authorities extended the service up to Panchagarh, BR sources said.

The BR operates four types of passenger trains -- intercity, local, mail, and commuter. Of the four, intercity trains provide the best services in terms of schedule management, seating arrangements, and the quality of the carriages.

In May 2019, just four months after the minister took charge of the rail ministry, BR launched its brand new Panchagarh Express between Dhaka and Panchagarh. This and two others -- Drutojan and Ekata -- these three trains on Dhaka-Panchagarh route operate seven days a week. They require no break as there is an additional rake for those trains, which is very rare in BR.

Every other intercity train has weekly day-offs.

"Trains operating between Dhaka and the home districts of previous rail ministers used to get priority, but an additional rake for trains is rare when there is a shortage of rakes," a BR official said, wishing anonymity.

In October 2020, a new intercity train named Banglabandha Express started rolling between Rajshahi and Panchagarh.

To launch this new train, the BR took back the relatively new rake of Benapole Express. This Dhaka-Benapole train was launched by the prime minister in July 2019, BR sources said.

When people of Jashore found the rake of Benapole Express was replaced with an old one, they staged protests.

"The railways minister snatched our gift from the prime minister," local newspaper "Samajer Kotha" quoted a demonstrator on May 22.

In June this year, another intercity train service, Dolonchapa Express,  which had been operating between Dinajpur andSantahar of Bogura, was extended up to Panchagarh.

"I don't know why all the intercity trains were being taken to Panchagarh from Dinajpur. This is nothing but depriving the people of Dinajpur," said AK Azad, convener of Dinajpur chapter of the Sector Commanders' Forum.

Such decisions have heightened the sufferings of passengers from Dinajpur who now get fewer tickets, he added.

Meanwhile, the country's most important route -- Dhaka-Chattogram -- got no new passenger train in the last six years.

Currently, there are eight passenger trains running daily on this route. The last intercity train, Sonar Bangla Express, was added to the route in 2016.

BR used to operate a special train on Dhaka-Khulna route during Eid times to carry holidaymakers. But it cancelled the special train before the last Eid-ul-Azha as the Padma Bridge opened before Eid.

BR officials in its west zone wanted to operate the special train on Dhaka-Parbatipur route, but it was later diverted to Dhaka-Panchagarh route.

Meanwhile, BR has moved to bring Banglabandha Land Port in Panchagarh under the railway network. A feasibility study has already been carried out for this.

Over the last one year, the project was placed before at least three development partners including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European Investment Bank for funding, considering it a priority project, BR sources said.

The BR authorities are considering implementing the project with their own funds if lenders decline to commit funds, they said.

ZERO COMPLETION

The BR is currently implementing 36 rail projects. Eleven of them were taken up after Sujan took office. Not a single of these projects has been completed.

The first project under his watch was taken up in January 2019 to carry out a feasibility study and prepare a detailed design to set up tracks for connecting Sunamganj district headquarters with the railway network.

The study, involving Tk 9.88 crore, was supposed to be complete by October 2020. The deadline was later pushed to June 2023 mainly due to disputes over the alignment.

The second project was taken up in April 2019 to convert Akhaura-Sylhet rail section into dual gauge from meter gauge at a cost of Tk 16,104.45 crore with Chinese loan.

Three years on, the physical work is yet to start. Officials are doubtful about its funding after its selected contractor declined to work after the project cost was revised down. The new deadline is June 2025.

All other projects are facing almost similar fate. In some cases, the physical work has yet to begin while the ministry sought time extension and cost revision in other cases.