United News of Bangladesh

Railways Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam on Wednesday informed Parliament that freight train services are currently operating between Bangladesh and India, while initiatives are being taken to resume passenger train services with the neighbouring country. “On average, around 43 freight trains are being received and 42 empty rakes are being sent back every month,” he said in reply to a scripted question from ruling BNP lawmaker Reza Ahammed (Kushtia-1) in the House. The Wednesday’s sitting of the parliament session began at 3:30pm with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad in the chair. The railways minister said Indian goods trains are being received and empty rakes are being sent through Rohanpur, Darshana and Benapole interchange stations. He added that the operation of a passenger train on the Rajshahi-Kolkata-Rajshahi route is currently under examination. In reply to another scripted question from BNP lawmaker Shah Md. Wares Ali Mamun (Jamalpur-5), Rabiul Alam said the government has a plan to gradually bring all districts of Bangladesh under the railway network in line with the government's Election Manifesto-2026 and the Railway Master Plan. “The present government is working towards achieving this goal,” he said. The minister said four projects are currently being implemented to expand the Bangladesh Railway network. The projects are Construction of a broad-gauge railway line from Madhukhali via Kamarkhali to Magura city; Construction of a new dual-gauge railway line from Bogura to Sirajganj; Feasibility study for Sherpur-Roumari railway connectivity; and Construction of a chord line from Dhaka to Cumilla. He also said initiatives have been taken to conduct feasibility studies for three projects for railway expansion. These are feasibility studies for extending the railway line from Chowmuhani to Lakshmipur in Noakhali, extending the railway line from Jharhia Jhanjail to Durgapur in Netrakona along with preparation of a detailed design, and extending the railway line from Sylhet to Jaflong. “More projects will be taken up gradually in the future to expand railway networks to all districts of the country,” said Rabiul Alam. Responding to a scripted question from BNP lawmaker Md Jahander Ali Miha (Madaripur-2), the minister, who is also the Road Transport and Bridges Minister, said 95 development projects are currently under implementation in the current fiscal year, with a total allocation of Tk 15,851.08 crore from the Annual Development Programme (ADP). He said that during the 2025-2026 fiscal year, 55 kilometres of highways were upgraded to four lanes, 81 kilometres of new flexible pavement and 59 kilometres of rigid pavement were constructed, 259.53 kilometres of roads were widened, 158 kilometres of roads were strengthened and 258 kilometres of highways underwent surfacing under various development projects. Besides, 58 bridges with a total length of 4,588 metres, 214 culverts measuring 1,152 metres, one 700-metre flyover, one 42-metre overpass and two underpasses measuring 21.35 metres were constructed during the period, he added.  

The government has decided to keep passenger train services between Rajshahi and other parts of the country suspended from Friday in the wake of the increased detection rate of Covid-19 infection in the frontier districts. The suspension of services will be effective until midnight past June 17, Mohammad Shafiqur Rahman, director (public relations) of Bangladesh Railway, said Thursday. Bangladesh Railway came up with the announcement as the local administration has imposed an all-out lockdown in the Rajshahi city for a week, starting 5pm Friday, amid a spike in Covid-19 infections there. Also read: Train services to resume at half capacity from Monday No vehicle will be allowed into Rajshahi city and transports cannot leave the area. However, emergency vehicles are exempt from the lockdown. Rajshahi division confirmed 815 daily cases – the highest in the country — in the past 24 hours until Thursday morning. Eight people died from Covid-19 there during the same period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services. Also read: Passenger train services to remain suspended during lockdown: Minister On May 24, regular train services across the country were resumed after suspension of over a month as part of the government restrictions on people's movement to curb coronavirus transmission. However, the authorities were asked to keep 50% of seats vacant for ensuring social distancing. On April 5, passenger train services were suspended across the country as part of a countrywide lockdown – imposed to tackle the second wave of infection.