SIFAYET ULLAH, Ctg

Hundreds of commuters across Chattogram division continue to suffer as 20 railway stations remain closed due to an acute shortage of station masters, forcing many to abandon train travel and rely on costlier and riskier road transport.

Bangladesh Railway’s Chattogram division has 93 stations, but one in every five is currently non-operational.

On the Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar route, Dhalghat station has remained closed since 2022 despite having two functional loop lines. As a result, trains serving the busy corridor do not stop there.

“My house is beside the station. I used to get on the train from here. Now I have to travel five kilometres to Patiya just to board a train,” said Abul Kalam, a resident of Dhalghat.

Ten more closed stations lie on the Chattogram-Brahmanbaria line, while eight others remain shut on the Laksam-Noakhali, Chattogram-Nazirhat, and Laksam-Chandpur sections. Sarkarhat station on the Nazirhat line has been closed since 2020, even though two trains still run on the route daily.

“Train travel is safer and cheaper, but with our station closed, we simply don’t have access to it,” said Nurul Islam, a government employee who formerly commuted by train but is now forced to depend on road transport.

Rashedul Islam, station master of Patiya and currently tasked with emergency oversight of Dhalghat, said the station once handled a steady flow of passengers. “With the Cox’s Bazar line now operational, more stations would have reopened. The closure is hurting both commuters and railway revenue.”

According to the divisional traffic office, the eastern zone has more than 350 sanctioned posts for station masters, but only around 150 are filled.

Railway data shows the entire eastern zone, comprising Dhaka and Chattogram divisions, is operating with barely half of its sanctioned manpower.

“We are struggling to run even the active stations with less than half the required workforce. Without new recruitment, reopening the closed stations is not possible,” said Anisur Rahman, divisional traffic officer in Chattogram.

Tarik Imran, deputy chief operating superintendent of the eastern zone, said the long-standing shortage of pointsmen has largely been resolved after the recruitment of over 300 this year. “However, we still face a serious shortage of station masters. We have already written to the ministry seeking recruitment.”

“With the pointsman shortage easing, we have verbally instructed the division to initiate reopening of important closed stations,” he added.