United News of Bangladesh

Once considered the backbone of Bangladesh’s railway maintenance network, the Saidpur Railway Workshop in Nilphamari is struggling to keep operations running amid a prolonged manpower shortage, leaving modern machinery worth approximately Tk153 crore unused and slowly falling into disrepair. Despite being the country’s largest railway workshop, the facility is currently operating with barely a quarter of its sanctioned workforce. Officials and workers cite a severe shortage of skilled personnel, coupled with inadequate budget allocations and delays in raw material supply, as key factors hampering production and maintenance activities. Established in 1870 during the Assam–Bengal Railway era, the Saidpur Railway Workshop spans over 110.29 acres and houses 27 sub-units. The facility is responsible for repairing broad-gauge and meter-gauge passenger coaches and freight wagons, maintaining steam relief cranes, and handling carriages and wagons damaged in accidents. Around 1,200 types of spare parts for coaches, wagons, and locomotives are also manufactured onsite. In 2017, the workshop underwent a Tk153 crore modernisation to enhance capacity and quality. The project upgraded 17 workshops for coach and wagon repairs, installing 43 mechanical and 13 electrical machines, along with deep tube-wells and an overhead water tank. Illegal electric fishing raises fresh fears for Tanguar Haor However, the benefits of this modernisation have largely gone unrealised due to a shortage of trained manpower. Many of the costly machines now sit idle, gradually becoming unusable. Currently, the workshop has 2,859 sanctioned positions for officers and workers, but only 716 posts are filled, leaving 2,143 vacancies. The manpower deficit has made it impossible to meet daily carriage repair targets; while the goal is three coaches per day, the workshop manages only two. Besides, no skilled workers are available in its 27 shops to operate 740 machines.