Two special cattle trains to carry sacrificial animals from various stations of West Zone railway of Rajshahi to Dhaka and Chattogram have been introduced ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.
Those cattle trains are supposed to carry sacrificial animals like cow (bull), buffalo, sheep and goat at a low cost to various destinations of Dhaka and Chattogram. The trains will consist of one rack each containing several wagons specially designed to carry cattleheads.
The trains will carry sacrificial cattle-heads from various destinations of West zone railway including from Chapainawabganj, Rohanour, Rajshahi, Mobarakganj, Chuadanga, Poradaha, Kushtia, Ullapara and other stations.
The covered wagons of the railway are protected from entering rainwater, sunshine and contain sufficient windows to enter air inside. Moreover, the trains will run at night so that the animals being carried do not turn ill due to excessive heat at day time.
Measures have been taken so that cattle hands and cattle traders would also be able to travel to their destinations in the same wagons.
West Zone railway General Manager Mihir Kanti Guha informed, carrying sacrificial animals through the train will both save time and money for the cattle traders.
Often carrying of cattle heads through trucks faces street-jam, takes a long time and the cattle traders need to pay toll on the way which causes a loss for both the cattle traders and the customers. Due to long duration of time to carry cattle heads on trucks, often those cattle turn ill. The cattle train will take some 12-hour to carry the animals to the destinations whereas a truck often requires 30 to 40-hour to carry those to Dhaka and Chattogram.
Authorities of West Zone railway, Paksey Division, have formed a four-member team to operate the cattle trains smoothly. The committee's Convener is Abdus Sobhan, Assistant Traffic Officer of Paksey division.