CU correspondent :
Several thousand students of Chittagong University, who travel by the shuttle train between the university and Chittagong city every day, are facing an acute transport crisis, thanks to indifference of authorities.
The usual hour-long journey by shuttle trains that often carry passengers double or triple their capacity has turned into a nightmare, said students. The situation has worsened with the number of the cars of the trains reducing.
CU is located in Hathazari upazila, 22km off the city. As a result, most of the 16,000 students, out of the total 24,000, who live outside the campus, have to solely depend on the shuttle trains. In addition, the resident students also need to take the train to the city. However, there are 20 buses for carrying teachers and staff.
The shuttle train service was launched in 1980 in cooperation with Bangladesh Railway, and each student has to pay Tk 820 during admission and Tk 579 annually from the second year to the end of the master’s programme as the transport fee.
