The government has formed a separate division under the communications ministry to cope with development programmes for the expansion and improvement of the ailing railway communications.
The communications ministry has now been divided into three divisions — Roads Division, Railway Division and Bridges Division — to give more importance to railway communications now undergoing reforms with financial support of development partners that include World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency, officials said.
'The government has made a separate division under the communications ministry to give more importance to train services which will be expanded to all districts in phases,' the roads and railway division secretary, Mozammel Haque, told New Age on Wednesday.
He said that projects were already under way to lay out 500 kilometres of railway connecting, among other districts such as Madaripur, Munshiganj, Barisal and Chittagong which would help to reduce pressure on roads as train service is safe and cheap.
The World Bank, the ADB and JICA had agreed with the government to provide $600 million in loan assistance for reforms of the railway on the conditions that the organisation must turn into a profitable organisation and deliver improved services to passengers, officials said.
Mozammel said that fares and charges for goods transport would be increased, once the service would improve, to stop the railway from incurring losses.
'Forty-three projects are being implemented for the expansion and improvement of the railway,' the secretary said.
The projects include procurement of 46 locomotives to ensure smooth services to passengers, he added.
A secretary would be posted to the Railway Division soon to take over responsibility of the new division as the authorities had already approved a 46-strength organogram which includes one post for the secretary, two joint secretaries, three deputy secretaries and six senior assistant secretaries, the officials concerned said.
The Cabinet Division on April 28 issued a gazette notification on the separation of the railway as a new division.
The communications ministry in late March requested the housing and public works secretary to allocate offices for officials and employees of the Railway Division.
After assumption of office in 2009, the government led by the Awami League has so far approved 25 projects for the modernisation and expansion of railway at a cost of Tk 12751 crore that include new railway constructions between Dohazari to Gundam in Myanmar via Ramu and Cox's Bazar, between Khulna and Mongla and restoration of the Panchuria–Faridpur railway link, modernisation of the Saidpur railway workshop and rehabilitation the Mymensingh–Jamalpur–Dewanganj Bazar section.
The Bangladesh Railway has a railway network of 2,835.04 kilometres connecting 44 districts with 440 stations and 286 locomotives.
Source: New Age
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