Bangladesh
Bangladesh Railway Six trains' operations temporarily suspended to prevent sabotage
Dhaka, Dec 22: Bangladesh Railway has temporarily suspended the operations of six intercity trains to avoid sabotage during the ongoing blockade-strike called by opposition parties.
Additional Director General (Operations) Sardar Shahadat Ali confirmed the information on Friday (December 22).
He said that the trains which have been temporarily suspended are: a pair of commuter trains plying on the Dhaka-Nahganj route, a pair of local trains on the Iswardi-Rajshahi-Rohanpur route, a pair of mail trains on the Rajshahi-Parbatipur route and Mymensingh-Bhuapur 253/254 local trains.
On the other hand, the inter-city Jamuna's (running between Dhaka-Tarakanda) route has been shortened. The train is running between Dhaka-Jamalpur from December 15. Jamalpur-Tarakanda route has been temporarily closed.
On the other hand, Western Railway Authority has temporarily suspended Uttara Express from Rajshahi to Parbatipur and the commuter train from Ishwardi to Rahanpur.
In an order issued by Bangladesh Railway, it has been informed that from Friday (December 22), this local train in the western region of the railway will be closed until further notice.
Railway Western Region General Manager Asim Kumar Talukder said that the Uttara Express train has been stopped for safety reasons as this train runs at night.
Western Railway Deputy Chief Commercial Officer (DCO) Nasir Uddin said, "Sabotage is happening all around. Usually such local trains stand at some station for a long time. Most vandalism and arson are happening in standing trains. Railways do not have the required manpower to deal with them. Therefore, the local train running between Rajshahi-Parbatipur is closed for the time being.”
He said, “Passengers can reach relatively safely in inter-city trains. It is from this thought that the decision to stop local trains has been taken. However, local trains are not being withdrawn from all routes at once.”
"Now a train will be sent first for piloting. Later the main train will go. And the engines and manpower of the stopped trains will be used in intercity trains," the Western Railway official added.
Five trains have been set on fire in the last one-and-a-half months.
Besides, the rail tracks were cut and fishplate clips were removed at three places. Among the six zones under the jurisdiction of the Railway Police, Dhaka region is said to have the highest number of vandalism and arson incidents.
