THE name of another permanent loss-oriented government sector is Bangladesh Railway. Over the years, the government has paid billions of taka for the development of Railways but it has failed to bring any service improvement till the date. Interestingly, the BR authority has claimed that their priority remains on improving services for passengers and not cutting losses. But what’s true is that people are not getting the expected service from the Railways. Plagued by shabby compartments, dirty toilets, long delays, unfriendly-access to stations and platforms, ticketing issues, and lack of security; the services offered by BR is too far from the desired level. Meanwhile, a number of fatal accidents and derailments — caused due to untrained locomotive masters and poorly maintained lines and carriages – have made the train journey risky nowadays.
Amidst the shabby condition, state-run BR is now observing service week. This time, 10 taskforces comprising officials of BR and the Ministry will be on-duty to check ticket scalping and passengers’ sufferings. They will also closely monitor train schedules, condition of toilets and compartments. The BR operates 360 passenger and some 30 freight trains on its 3,000km network across the country’s eastern and western zones. While the number of passengers has risen over the years, the sector has failed to ensure expected quality service. In the last five fiscals, including the current one, the government allocated Tk 50,114.85 crore from different development and technical assistance projects. But BR spent only Tk 28,489.75 crore until November this year.
Widespread corruption along with lack of professionalism, shortage of skilled manpower and absence of proper monitoring is mainly responsible for the constant loss and poor service. Until making the sector corruption-free from top to bottom, it would impossible to get a better service from the Railways.
