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Getting Bangladesh Railway rolling

Mohammad Mohiuddin Abdullah
HE railway network of Bangladesh which was inherited from undivided India is totally unsuitable for present traffic flow requirements. Minimum investment has been made to re-orient the railway network
towards the capital city, shorten the distance between Chittagong port and other cities and connect Mongla Port or other areas where rail network does not exist. While the road network has increased significantly, no matching expansion of the rail network has been made. Due to lack of adequate maintenance budget rail tracks and other infrastructures and rolling stocks are in deplorable condition, resulting in poor performance of BR.
Roads have been given special attention and allocated maximum money (average 76% of total transport sector) for expansion and reconstruction since 1985 while nominal allocations have been made for railway (average 16%) and shipping (average 8%) only. The negligence over the decades has left the railway sector with a very poor capacity to serve the people.
The slow release of funds has been a key factor in the stagnation of the sector while red-tape has put many projects on hold.
The challenge facing Bangladesh Railway is immense. The inherited colonial network does not suit the strategic transport needs of modern Bangladesh. Tracks, locomotives and rolling stock are relatively in poor condition, and a range of physical and institutional issue inhibits the realisation of full capacity of the existing network. At the same time, railways have in-built advantages over road transport for the carriage of containers and bulk commodities. Railway can offer safer and faster inter-city travel at more reasonable fare than road transport, and has the potential to play a major role in the context of regional transport and trade. Unplanned, piece-meal and economically non-viable projects should not be implemented.
The problems of the Bangladesh Railway include lack of capacity building, lack of proper servicing facilities and delay in finalisation of tenders. The performance of BR is unsatisfactory because of a number of reasons. The development projects are not implemented as per schedule due to lack of skilled and efficient personnel. It may be mentioned that BR could not recruit officials since long, resulting in shortage of manpower which affects the regular operation of the trains. It is impossible to implement the existing development projects with the present number of officials of BR. Due to delay in implementation of the projects the cost increases, which should be looked into. Passengers and freight fares were last updated in 1992 and in the mean time fuel and other operation costs have increased by about 45%.
The future of railway depends on a concerted intervention by the government to address the adverse economic, social and environmental consequences of road building and road transport operations. This intervention has to be policybased, following an analysis of the economic and environmental costs of competing modes. A beginning has already been made by the present government which felt that there should be a stronger emphasis on rail and inland water transport, vis-a-vis road transport, but had received little support from the government and donors over the past several decades. Political intervention for piece-meal road construction should be stopped.
The vision of BR is to play an important and dominant role in an integrated transport system for the country by emphasising its strengths. The main strength of rail transport
vis-s-vis road transport lies in long distance travel and carriage of goods. Bangladesh is a relatively small country, and for railway to compete with road transport it must be part of a door-to-door service that is integrated with other modes of transport for access and egress. The vision of BR is: (i) to provide safe reliable, effective and efficient rail transport service in the country; and (ii) to maintain upgrade, modernise rail system of the country in a manner which supports government strategies for economic and social development whilst being environmentally and economically sustainable.
Bangladesh Railway is implementing donor driven programmes on the one hand and rehabilitation of tracks as well as minimum infrastructural programme supported by GOB fund on the other. Asian Development Bank signed a $ 430 million loan to implement nine projects in Feb. 2007 for BR, but only one project has been implemented so far.
Recently, India signed an agreement to implement several projects for procurement of locomotives, coaches and wagons.
To overcome the present problems a master plan for the development of BR is need of hour, where infrastructural development and rolling stock should be given attention. The government should take necessary steps to
recruit manpower (from loco master to high officials) for operating rail transport efficiently and to implement ongoing development projects. If necessary, retired, experienced and skilled manpower may be appointed on contract basis. In addition, a project director (PD) may be appointed for each project and one PD should not be given two or three projects for implementation. Domination of suppliers in respect of procurement should also be looked into.
The potential of the railway in Bangladesh needs to be unlocked through planned investment in tracks, signaling, rolling stock, maintenance and human resources. Donor and supplier-driven projects/programmes should not be considered. The government should take initiative to prepare longterm Railway Master Plan to guide the overall development of BR in the foreseeable future. Once adopted by the government, it will allow BR to go for planned and systematic development. Implementation of the plan along with modern management and operating practices will allow railway to play its full role, not just in the transport system but in fostering the economic and social development of Bangladesh.
BR is still a government owned entity with budgetary support for both train operations and infrastructure investment coming from the government/donor agencies. As such, railway cannot be financially self-supporting either as public or private company. In order to create opportunities for bringing in efficiency as well as to attract more private sector involvement in railway, there is a strong argument in favour of separating infrastructure from operation. Reform of BR is one of the major conditions of donor for financial assistance in development activities and the creation of separate ministry may create problems in convincing donors for financial assistance.
The potentials are enormous. Given the fact that it is a bulk carrier of goods and passengers and also a safe mode of transportation, the railway should receive a high priority from here on. With the recent separation of railway into a full ministry, the nation expects a set of effective measures to restore it to its rightful place in a multi-modal transportation system. In the present world, railways play a vital role in fostering greater connectivity within a country as well as the region.
The writer is a former Joint Chief, Planning Commission.
Email: dr.abdullah.bd@gmail.com