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200 new rail carriages from Indonesia

22 to arrive in October


Published : 23 Aug 2019 09:28 PM | Updated : 03 Sep 2020 11:37 PM

In the second phase of the government project for purchasing 200 railway carriages from Indonesia, some 22 more new coaches are likely to arrive in the country in next October. In the first phase, 26 metre-gauge coaches arrived in the country on last 1 August. The rest 152 coaches is scheduled to arrive by 2020, sources said.

Earlier, as part of the ongoing effort to ensure passengers’ smooth and comfortable train journey, the government decided to buy 200 new coaches from Indonesia under the project of ‘Procurement of Metre-Gauge and Broad-Gauge Coaches for Bangladesh Railways’. Some 132 coaches out of remaining 152 coaches will arrive in 8 phases while in the the 9th or last phase, some 20 coaches will arrive in July, 2020.

About the project, substation engineer Md Shakhawat Hossain said the coaches that have arrived under the project, some are already being used in three routes of Bangladesh Railways. Some 36 coaches are being used in Bonolota Express, Panchagarh Express and Benapole Express. According to Bangladesh Railways, each meter-gauge coach costs Tk 3.03 crore while a broad-gauge coach costs Tk 4.22 crore. Among the coaches, 18 are air-conditioned (AC) sleeper coaches, 40 AC chair coaches (55 seats), 112 Shovon chair coaches (60 seats), 25 food and guard brake coaches and 13 power cars.

The total length of the railways in the country is 2929.50 km. Some 362 passenger services have been operating on different routes across the country. Of them, there are 96 intercity trains. A total of 400 stations are now operational in the country. Director-General of Bangladesh Railways, Md Shamsuzzaman said to improve passenger services, new coaches are being added to the railways fleet. These are brand-new coaches with latest technological support, as well as comfortable and spacious seats, stair, parcel rack, TV monitor hanger, Wi-Fi router hanger, mobile charger hanger, and so on.