East zone plans 2 new inter-city trains with 30 posh coaches
New air-conditioned couches for Railway east zone. Photo: Zobaer Hossain Sikder
Bangladesh Railway is importing 30 new air-conditioned coaches for its east zone to introduce two new inter-city trains between Chittagong and Dhaka with a view to providing better service to the commuters. The Railway authorities have taken the plan when the east zone faces shortage of engines or locomotives to maintain its present service, sources said. Of the new coaches, 14 have already arrived in Chittagong Port on April 30 while the rest 16 are expected to arrive next month, sources added. Railway authorities are importing the coaches manufactured by China Machinery Export and Import Corporation under a Tk 106 crore project titled 'Procurement of 30 Air Conditioned Coaches'. Railway officials said addition of the coaches will help to some extent maintain rail service in the region that is running without adequate coaches. The air-conditioned coaches include 14 chair coaches, five chair-coach cum dinning, three coupes (sleepers), four power cars and four inspection cars. Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of Bangladesh Railway (East Zone) Md Khalilur Rahman, also project director, said the coaches are more spacious and comfortable ones that will surely attract the passengers. He said two fully air-conditioned express train will be launched on different routes with the coaches. He, however, said the decision about use of the coaches has not yet been finalised. Earlier, 50 couches were imported in three phases last year from the same company. Of them, 32 were added to three inter-city trains on Dhaka-Chittagong route like Subarno Express, Turna Nishitha and Mohanagar Probhati replacing old ones. Railway authorities earlier said one more train will be added to the Subarno Express with 18 other coaches to help two trains leave both the ends of Dhaka-Chittagong routes at a time by March. But the coaches still are lying idle at the Carriage and Wagon Repair Workshop at Pahartali. A railway official preferring anonymity said the new Subarno Express could not be introduced for lack of engine (locomotive). He said the east zone is facing shortage of adequate engines to run the present coaches. There are now around 138 engines in the east zone while 20 per cent of them remains at the Carriage and Wagon Repair Workshop at Pahartali for repair. To keep the service operative, the zone requires at least 108 engines everyday while it can provide maximum 102 engines, he said. Engineer Khalil said procurement of nine locomotives from Japan is under process. A project has been signed with Japan Bangladesh International Corporation (JBIC) in this regard, he added.
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