Tuhin Shubhra Adhikary

The number of road crashes and casualties continues to rise in the country as promises by government bodies to ensure road safety remain unfulfilled, said road safety campaigners.

The pandemic took a huge toll on Bangladesh Railway as movement curbs over a significant period left the state-run operator with Tk 2,063 crore losses in the 2019-20 fiscal year.

The government is planning to form a company for implementing its plan to build an underground railway network in the capital and adjacent areas.

In a bid to manage funds for the Bhanga to Payra Port rail line, railways authorities have started talks with a UK-based company -- IM Power PLC -- over the 214km line.

Bangladesh Railway and railways ministry officials will make four trips to Europe, the USA, and India over the next three months despite the pandemic for what they said would be studies, receiving training, and visiting factories.

The Tongi Bridge remained damaged for a quite long time, but authorities, instead of refurbishing the bridge, kept it only operational by putting steel sheets on it for the last two months, disregarding the risk of accidents.

Railway authorities have decided to seek opinion from independent experts about whether traffic movement on Padma Bridge would cause problems for installing rail tracks on the lower part of the double-decker bridge.

No three-wheelers or easy-bikes would be allowed on the national and regional highways. Such vehicles must have route permit, registration and fitness clearance for operating on the dedicated routes. And their drivers have to obtain licences.

The government’s move to hike the bus fares appears to have spawned a free-for-all: many operators were charging as much as 50 percent higher fares, while the CNG-run buses were also collecting fares at the new rate that does not apply to them.

The bus and launch fares are now up by as much as 28 percent and 43 percent respectively, in the first manifestation of the impact the Tk 15 hike in diesel and kerosene prices will have on the cost of living for the poor and the middle-class.

Slow response from the government left the general public suffering for a second consecutive day as buses and trucks stayed off the roads protesting the fuel price hike.

No one knows how the poor man dines, says a Russian proverb that now seems all too fitting in light of the government’s decision to hike the prices of diesel, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas. 

A South Korean consortium has started its study to assess whether it would invest on a project for building a circular railway around the capital, under a public private partnership (PPP) initiative.

After failing to secure Chinese loans for two major railway projects, the government decided to look for alternative sources.

Bangladesh Railway (BR) is finally going to start a feasibility study to explore whether electric train service can be introduced on Narayanganj-Dhaka-Chattogram route.

More than two and a half years ago, Bangladesh Railway had launched a project to carry out a feasibility study and prepare a detailed design to set up tracks for connecting Sunamganj district headquarters with the railway network.

The government has officially abandoned its decade-long plan to build an expressway on the Dhaka-Chattogram corridor, a crucial cog for the Bangladesh economy, under public-private partnership -- after shelling out Tk 100 crore on a feasibility study and getting a detailed design.

The government has finally formed a trustee board to settle compensation claims over road accidents, but it will be fully functional only after the rules of Road Transport Act-2018 are formulated. 

Apparently giving in to pressure from transport associations, the government once again waived the fines for failing to update documents of vehicles on time.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the authorities concerned to take punitive action against those responsible for unusual delays and irregularities in a project for building a medical college hospital in Kushtia.