Plan to put all trains on broad-gauge lines by 2040

[Homo Sapiens]

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/...rains-on-broad-gauge-lines-by-2040-1517511591

Plan to put all trains on broad-gauge lines by 2040
Total halt to meter-gauge dev activities after 2025 for the switch
Munima Sultana | Published: February 02, 2018 00:59:51

All meter-gauge (MG)-related development activities of Bangladesh Railway (OR) may halt after 2025 as the government plans to put all trains on broad-gauge (BG) lines.

Officials said the complete switch in the popular transport service will take up to 2040 under a mega-plan for transformation of the centuries-old railways.

According to BR's record, Eastern Bengal Railway had started construction of the first BG line between Darsana and Jagati of Kushtia district way back in 1862.


Sources said the latest target is set to stop the buying of any meter- gauge coaches and locomotives after 2025 and start full-fledged conversion of the BR services to BG by 2040.

"More than two-trillion-taka investment would be required to carry out the conversion as well as construction of new broad-gauge tracks till 2040," says an official.

He, however, said investment to reach the target has already been begun as the BR has been executing over Tk 800 billion worth of projects to construct dual-gauge tracks alongside existing tracks on many routes by 2020.

Officials said the latest target is fixed to make the state-owned train enterprise into international-standard one as many countries have already discarded MG services.

The manufacturing of MG coaches and locomotives has also stopped in many parts of the world.

The targeted advances in this mass-transport sector have already been incorporated into the revised 20-year master plan which is now being framed, they also said.

"We will go for broad gauge by 2040. But metre-gauge trains and freight services may be available in branch areas and will continue till the end of life of MG locomotives," said one official involved with the planning.

As per the target, he said, no BR's development activities would be taken on MG after 2025. All track-development activities will be BG-centric.

The BR has now tracks on both MG and BG systems but majority of 4,185km tracks are MG lines. Since 2009, the present government has invested several hundred billion of taka in the sector to enhance BR's image through improving its tracks, and train and freight services.

But all its development activities have been centered on developing double lines of MG or single-line dual gauge, which means MG or BG trains both can be operated on the single line. Almost entire track of western zone of the BR is based on BG. But the eastern part which carries majority train and freight services for having connected with the Chittagong Port city still boasts moving on MG.

BR officials said as setting up a rail line is time-consuming, initial planning to improve the rail service was taken based on existing resources to improve both passenger train or freight services with speed and maintaining time.

Though the officials said the entire target of the BR is to make the service international-standard, critics said no effort was there to set up standard-gauge line simultaneously when many countries have already switched to the new track.

They said standard gauge is introduced to run high-speed trains.

A BR official, preferring not to be named, said to match with the train services of the neighbouring countries, including India, the BG-based train service has been planned.

BG is widely used in India along the border of Bangladesh, he added

The official, however, said a project has already been taken to find the viability of introducing speedy train which would also help BR assess the needs for developing standard line in the future.

The BR is committed to turning its services to international-standard ones for joining trans-Asian Railway (TAR) corridor for improving train- based trade corridor with regional countries.

smunima@yahoo.com

 

[Homo Sapiens]

Almost entire track of western zone of the BR is based on BG. But the eastern part which carries majority train and freight services for having connected with the Chittagong Port city still boasts moving on MG.

A British legacy which we are still bearing. British had policy to build broad gauze railway on core areas and meter gauze to periphery of their Indian empire. Land east of Ganges-Brahmaputra line was considered periphery, so they built meter gauze most of which now in eastern half of Bangladesh.When Partition happened, India got mostly the broad gauze line while East Bengal got mostly the meter gauze line.

 

[Chhatrapati]

A British legacy which we are still bearing. British had policy to build broad gauze railway on core areas and meter gauze to periphery of their Indian empire. Land east of Ganges-Brahmaputra line was considered periphery, so they built meter gauze most of which now in eastern half of Bangladesh.When Partition happened, India got mostly the broad gauze line while East Bengal got mostly the meter gauze line.

Blame yourself, not the partition. India had nearly half of the gauges as Metre Gauges (MG). That's some 24000 KM (45%) in MG and similar 25000 KM in Broad Gauge (BG). Now the share of MG is only 5%. And 2040 is far too long considering you have only some 2500 KM in total railway length.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

Blame yourself, not the partition. India had nearly half of the gauges as Metre Gauges (MG). That's some 24000 KM (45%) in MG and similar 25000 KM in Broad Gauge (BG). Now the share of MG is only 5%. And 2040 is far too long considering you have only some 2500 KM in total railway length.

Closer to 3,000 km route length actually.Not much difference with India when we factor it with land areas. India has 2.11 km route length for each 100 sq. km land and BD has 2.03 km route length for each 100 sq.km land. Building railway in Bangladesh is a costly affair as the land is criss-crossed with numerous water body and soil is very soft.Plus transportation infrastructure as a whole, specially railway was very neglected until few years ago. Main problem is money, India has national budget(Federal+states) which is almost 30 percent of GDP while Bangladesh's budget is just 19 percent of GDP.On per capita basis, India spend perhaps more than twice the money on transport infrastructure than Bangladesh.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

A very good discussion on current condition of Railway.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

| Published : 07 Jun 2018, 21:14
Massive Tk 14,557cr budget for railway

Staff Correspondent

The government has proposed an allocation of Tk 14,557 crore for the Ministry of Railways in budget for 2018-19 fiscal to develop the rail connectivity in the country.

Railways are a cost effective, safe and environment-friendly mode of transportation for goods and passengers. For comprehensive development of railway sector, the existing 20-year Railway Master Plan has been updated, the announcement was made while the national budget for the financial year 2018-19 was unveiled at the Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday.

The budget for the rail sector in last fiscal year 2017-18 was Tk 13,898 crore.

Under the master plan, 230 projects have been identified for implementation by 2045.

Expansion of railways, construction and repair of new rail tracks, conversion to dual gauge line, opening of new and reopening of closed railway stations, launching new trains and improving train service, procurement of train coaches are a continuous process.

In the next fiscal year, the government has planned to construct 120km new rail tracks, 22km of railway resettlement, 2,550km rail line maintenance, 55 new rail bridge construction, modernisation of 16 station signalling system, procurement of 50 BG and MG passenger coaches and rehabilitation of 40 carriages.

The government also has plans to build 395km of new rail line, 76 km rail line resettlement and 173 new rail bridges in the next few years. Currently, a feasibility study is going on to build a dual gauge double tracked ‘Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge’ in parallel with the existing Bangabandhu Bridge over Jamuna river.

 

[Michael Corleone]

Closer to 3,000 km route length actually.Not much difference with India when we factor it with land areas. India has 2.11 km route length for each 100 sq. km land and BD has 2.03 km route length for each 100 sq.km land. Building railway in Bangladesh is a costly affair as the land is criss-crossed with numerous water body and soil is very soft.Plus transportation infrastructure as a whole, specially railway was very neglected until few years ago. Main problem is money, India has national budget(Federal+states) which is almost 30 percent of GDP while Bangladesh's budget is just 19 percent of GDP.On per capita basis, India spend perhaps more than twice the money on transport infrastructure than Bangladesh.

You know where else the soil is very soft? Japan.... look what they did with their rail infrastructure

 

[Flynn Swagmire]

You know where else the soil is very soft? Japan.... look what they did with their rail infrastructure

আরে ভাই, কই সাত তলা আর কই গাছ তলা...

Don't know about other subcontinental countries! But, in Bangladesh proper humans are rare. To develop faster we need proper human base...

 

[Michael Corleone]

আরে ভাই, কই সাত তলা আর কই গাছ তলা...

Don't know about other subcontinental countries! But, in Bangladesh proper humans are rare. To develop faster we need proper human base...

Too bad, proper humans like (myself ) are chased away from the country for shit *** laws and policies

 

[Flynn Swagmire]

Too bad, proper humans like (myself ) are chased away from the country for shit *** laws and policies

 

[bluesky]

"More than two-trillion-taka investment would be required to carry out the conversion as well as construction of new broad-gauge tracks till 2040," says an official.

Two trillion Taka, equivalent to about 24 billion dollar US, is very cheap. Has Uncle Trump offered BD a few offset printing machines? I think, the investment money should be used to build the manufacturing factories that will provide jobs and produce wealth, of which a part can be used in the future to develop the railway tracks or anything BD wants. ইহাকেই বলা হয়, "ভিক্ষা করিয়া ঘি খাওয়া"।

@Homo Sapiens @Bilal9, comments please!!

 

[Nike]

Two trillion Taka, equivalent to about 24 billion dollar US, is very cheap. Has Uncle Trump offered BD a few offset printing machines? I think, the investment money should be used to build the manufacturing factories that will provide jobs and produce wealth, of which a part can be used in the future to develop the railway tracks or anything BD wants. ইহাকেই বলা হয়, "ভিক্ষা করিয়া ঘি খাওয়া"।

@Homo Sapiens @Bilal9, comments please!!

Opening factories should be done by private investment or State owned enterprise by their own capital or Portofolio investment and not done directly by government institution through state budget. Government should only focusing to provide decent infrastructure like electricity, roads (highway, expressway), ports, railways and legal basis of law and regulation friendly toward foreign investment.

 

[bluesky]

Opening factories should be done by private investment or State owned enterprise by their own capital or Portofolio investment and not done directly by government institution through state budget. Government should only focusing to provide decent infrastructure like electricity, roads (highway, expressway), ports, railways and legal basis of law and regulation friendly toward foreign investment.

Bd private companies have to import the capital machinery and even the steel structures and wall clouding materials from abroad to build manufacturing plants by paying in dollar. On the other hand, BD alone is not capable to modify the railway system. So, it has also to spend dollar to get foreign expertise and finished goods to do it. In either case, dollar will be needed, and BD does not have that much of resources to initiate all these fancy projects simultaneously.

So, which one will be your first priority with the meager resources? One is the face lifting of the country with railway modification, and the other is industrialization that produces wealth and provide employment.

 

[Nike]

Bd private companies have to import the capital machinery and even the steel structures and wall clouding materials from abroad to build manufacturing plants by paying in dollar. On the other hand, BD alone is not capable to modify the railway system. So, it has also to spend dollar to get foreign expertise and finished goods to do it. In either case, dollar will be needed, and BD does not have that much of resources to initiate all these fancy projects simultaneously.

So, which one will be your first priority with the meager resources? One is the face lifting of the country with railway modification, and the other is industrialization that produces wealth and provide employment.

Well honestly what Bd needs is structural reform (especially in human sector) and providing much cleaner and better environment to attract FDI. This should not be spent much money compared doing all alone by your own, not to mention without reform in your human sector there is not much you can do once you established your heavy industry.

 

[bluesky]

Well honestly what Bd needs is structural reform (especially in human sector) and providing much cleaner and better environment to attract FDI. This should not be spent much money compared doing all alone by your own, not to mention without reform in your human sector there is not much you can do once you established your heavy industry.

Human sector and industrialization are not done in a short time. But, it goes parallel, step by step and with a gradual progression. No country waits for its human sector to develop fully after or before industrialization. A little industrialization and then a little development of human sector, or both can go in parallel.

The development of latter requires investment in money, that can be acquired from the wealth produced in the industries. Therefore, it is necessary that whatever meager resource BD has should better be spent on industrialization. The wealth produced in the industries can always be utilized to develop the human sector.