The New Nation - Internet Edition

AS part of a reform and improvement programme, the government is going to turn the Bangladesh Railway into a public limited company. The government has adopted a $430 million Bangladesh Railway Reform and Improvement Project with financial support from the Asian Development Bank. The reform agenda of the railway includes, among others, modernisation of stations, improvement of services, computerised ticket selling system at some major stations and transparency at all levels of management. This 5-year project is scheduled to be completed within 2012.

Bangladesh Railway is the lone mode of transport of its kind having a 2,835 kilometre long network covering 44 districts of the country. One out of every three passengers travels by train. Railway, profitable in many countries, has turned into a losing concern in Bangladesh. BR reportedly incurred a loss of Tk 150 crore last year. Its operational efficiency has been seriously affected by corruption and mismanagement. Railway is no more considered a fast and comfortable transport mode. But it still has the potential, being the largest single transport network, to improve and get back its past glory by ensuring prompt services.

To keep railway competitive with other modes of transportation its management must offer competitive travel fare and freight charges. The key aim of all reforms and improvements should be to make railway profitable by upgrading its services to satisfactory levels. Railway greatly supports the development process through its massive freight services. At present railways employs 33,000 regular employees. If the railway is corporatised as per the agreement with the ADB a major part of its shares should be retained by the government. Private shareholders would guard against inefficiency of operations while the government’s control on management would help take care of the security aspect.