Redirect the railways
Photo: Amirul Rajiv
What I understand is that the then Pakistani government did nothing to modernize the railways, except building the Kamlapur Station which is probably still incomplete according to many. Bangladesh railways need to see light and this light can be shown to them if the system is modernised. The locomotives and the wagons are old fashioned and moreover contribute to the air pollution by discharging black smoke every time they go through the cities and the rural areas. This particular mode of mass transport system also does not connect the entire country due to poor infrastructure as well as shortage of connecting bridges. According to many the train which goes through the city are also wasting valuable working hours of the city dwellers mainly due to stoppage on all level crossings. The government should seriously look into the development of BR on a top priority basis. BR needs to have its own heavy duty workshop with all modern equipments for maintaining the locomotives and the wagons. The entrance and exit needs to be relocated from the northern side to the southern side which will reduce the distance in kilometres for the trains commuting towards Chittagong, Comilla, Noakhali etc. With the Padma Bridge it will also connect the southern part of Bangladesh and also when this track is completed it will reduce the travel time between Dhaka and Khulna as well as Kolkata. I fail to understand why Bangladesh government and the BR have never tried to connect Cox's Bazar with the capital city. This resort city can actually see more tourists if connected with railway tracks and moreover the railways will certainly earn a lot of revenue as Cox's Bazar, irrespective of the season, is always packed with tourists, especially during the week ends. The platforms are short in height and should actually be levelled with the wagon so that getting in and out from the wagons does not require one to be Sir Edmond Hillary or Sherpa Tenjing! The railways are certainly the cheapest and the safest way of transport worldwide and if we just look into our neighbour India we will get to see how developed the system is. Why should we lag far behind?
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