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Jamaat-hit trains not yet fit for Eid rush

Staff Correspondent
The railway has yet to regain the passengercarrying capacity it lost during the countrywide violence inflicted by Jamaat-e-Islami and its student front Islami Chhatra Shibir in February.
As many as 11 coaches of three express trains were torched as activists of Jamaat-Shibir went berserk after a tribunal had handed down capital punishment on their leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee for his war crimes.
The vandals set ablaze three air-conditioned coaches of Silk City in Rajshahi, five coaches of Subarna Express in Chittagong and three coaches of Upakul
Express at Kamalapur Railway Station in Dhaka.
Every Silk City coach has 92 seats and Subarna and Upakul coaches have 50 seats each.
Earlier, the railway could offer on average 1,500 to 2,000 seats every day on Dhaka-Rajshahi, Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Noakhali routes.
Eight of the 11 coaches could not be repaired yet which could have offered on average around 950 seats every day on up and down trips.
The railway is now struggling to carry far more passengers than its previous capacity during the Eid rush.
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"We have been able to repair three slightly damaged coaches of Subarna Express. The rest are still lying at Pahartali workshop for lack of fund and repair," said a senior rail official in Chittagong asking not to be identified.
He added each coach of Subarna Express had cost the railway Tk 3-4 crore.
Coaches of Upakul and Silk City have been kept at Kamalapur and Saidpur for repair. Each coach of
Upakul cost the railway Tk 60 lakh and each coach of Silk CityTk4 crore.
A senior rail official in Rajshahi said repairing of the burned down Silk City coaches would require at least Tk 1 crore.
To cope with the Eid rush as much as possible, the railways ministry is going to launch 10 special train services on important routes like Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Sylhet, Dhaka-Khulna and Dhaka-Nilphamari by renovating
old coaches to ferry people from August 6.
One more such train could be introduced using the burned coaches now awaiting repair.
The ministry has meanwhile decided not to operate Maitree Express on Dhaka-Kolkata route for a week before and after the Eid so that its coaches can be added to the existing express trains.
Coaches from some unscheduled trains would also be used for the special
and existingtrains.
Director General of Bangladesh Railway Abu Taher said despite limitations they were trying to give the people their best services.
"We have fund crisis, but we will soon repair the damaged coaches and add those to the respective intercity trains," he added.
The intercity trains leaving Kamalapur for different destinations offer around 17,000 seats every day.