The government has introduced a transshipment plan to reduce public suffering following the derailment of nine coaches of the Nil Sagar Express in the Santahar area of Bogura, which disrupted rail communication on Wednesday.
Bangladesh Railway Additional Director General (Operations) Mohammad Nazmul Islam said it may take around 12 hours to recover the derailed coaches and restore normal train services.
In the meantime, passengers will continue their journeys by changing trains at designated points. Several inter-city services on key routes, including Dhaka–Panchagarh, Khulna–Nilphamari, and Rajshahi–Chilahati, will operate under transshipment arrangements.
Panchagarh Express and Ekta Express will run with transshipment on the Dhaka–Panchagarh–Dhaka route, while Simanta Express and Rupsha Express will facilitate travel between Khulna and Nilphamari.
On the Dhaka–Parbatipur route, Parbatipur Special and Banglabandha services will operate with support from Kanchan Express. Titumir Express and Barendra Express will handle transshipment on the Rajshahi and Chilahati routes.
Train No. 797 Kurigram Express will run via the Bogura–Kurigram route.
However, several services have been cancelled, including Train No. 804 Banglabandha Express (Akkelpur–Rajshahi), Train No. 803 Banglabandha Express (Rajshahi–Panchagarh), and Thursday’s Train No. 804 service (Panchagarh–Rajshahi).
Officials said passengers travelling from both ends will have to change trains at the accident site until normal operations resume.
Earlier on Wednesday afternoon, scores of passengers were injured as nine coaches of the Nilasagar Express derailed near Santahar Railway Station in Adamdighi upazila of Bogura district.
A four-member investigation committee has been formed to determine the cause of the incident.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is closely monitoring the situation, particularly given his deep-rooted ties to Bogura, which is his home district on his father's side.
He directed the local administration to take necessary steps to minimise damage and reduce the suffering of passengers.