Bangladesh Railway (BR) has taken an initiative of linking special train with agricultural products for transporting vegetables to Dhaka in order to combat the rising prices of essential commodities.
The BR authorities have already introduced the special train service on Chapainawabganj-Dhaka and Khulna-Dhaka routes in a bid to stabilize the prices of agricultural products and reduce extortion and harassment on roads.
Farmers and traders from the southern and northern regions of the country will be able to transport vegetables as well as agricultural products to the capital at a lower cost three times a week using this special train. From now, the train will operate every Tuesday from Khulna, every Thursday from Panchagarh, and every Saturday from Chapainawabganj, transporting agricultural products to Dhaka.
The train has the capacity to transport 120 tonnes of goods daily. The cost of transporting vegetables and agricultural products via this train will range from Tk 1.08 to a maximum of Tk 1.47 per kg, which has pleased traders.
As part of the BR’s initiative, the special train on Chapainawabganj-Dhaka route is being launched today (Saturday). The West Zone of Bangladesh Railway will transport agricultural products, including vegetables, fish and meat, to Dhaka from Rajshahi region at a cheap cost.
Farmers and traders from the border district Chapainawabganj and different other parts of Rajshahi region will be able to transport vegetables and agricultural products to the capital and the cost of transporting the products via this train will be Tk 1.30 per kg and from Rajshahi Tk 1.18 per kg.
There are arrangements of refrigerated luggage vans along with general vans in the special train, said General Manager of West Zone of Bangladesh Railway Mamunul Islam.
The special train will depart from Rohanpur station in Chapainawabganj at 9.15 am and will reach Tejgaon station in Dhaka at 5.20 pm.
From its departing point, the special train will have intervals at 13 stations naming Nachole, Amnura, Kakonhat, Rajshahi, Sardaha Road, Arani, Abdulpur, Azimnagar, Ishwardi Bypass, Chatmohar, Boral Bridge and Joydevpur.
Earlier on Thursday, the Rajshahi railway authorities held a view-exchange meeting with stakeholders on the Rajshahi station premises to discuss and devise ways and means on how to make the venture a total success.
General Manager Mamunul Islam and Additional General Manager Ahammed Hossain Masum spoke at the meeting with Chief Commercial Manager of the West Zone of Bangladesh Railway Sujit Kumar Biswash in the chair.
Sujit Kumar said that modern coaches recently imported from China have been added to the train to maintain the quality of the perishable products.
Director General of Bangladesh Railway Sarder Sahadat Ali said that if demand increases, the number of trains for transporting vegetable will be increased.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Bangladesh Railways launched a special agricultural goods train for transporting produce from Khulna to Dhaka at lower cost.
The new initiative of the Bangladesh Railways (BR) is being met with enthusiasm by local traders, who see the potential for reduced transportation costs. “If we transport by train, we will only pay for the quantity we carry, unlike road transport where we pay the same for a half-empty truck,” said a local trader of Chapainawabganj.
Another trader said that transporting agriculture by special train would also help avoid traffic jams, saving both time and money.
Secretary of Center for Law and Policy Affairs (CLPA) Syed Mahbubul Alam Tahin welcomed the initiative of Bangladesh Railways, saying that the special train service for transporting agricultural products should be introduced permanently.
Talking to the Daily Bangladesh Post on Friday, he said that vegetables and other agriculture products come mainly by road in the capital city. This increases the cost of transportation. The influence of middlemen also increases due to various other hassles, including extortion. In such a situation, if vegetables are transported by railway and waterway regularly, urban people will get fresh vegetables at fair prices, he added.
The public health expert and policy analyst opined, for introducing special vegetable train permanently, a coordinated initiative among the ministries and departments concerned, including Ministry of Shipping, Bangladesh Railway, Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) and Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), is necessary.
Differences in rural-urban retail prices of vegetables mainly vary in Dhaka city from other parts of the country. The urban people in the city on the one hand are deprived of fair prices, on the other hand they are deprived of fresh vegetables, fruits and food items even at higher prices.
The pricing is affected in the capital city and other urban markets mainly in absence of proper transportation system. Middlemen take advantage of the problems.
Market and policy analysts said that the prices of vegetables and other food items increase several times when those arrive in urban markets from rural growers through middlemen. As a large number of farmers can’t come to urban markets, they have to depend on middlemen. However, the middlemen eat into what farmers get as price for their produce by buying it before it can reach market, thus depriving the growers of a fair price
The middlemen buy vegetables and other agriculture products at extremely low rates directly from the producers, but prices become high later from distribution to retailing through commission agents and wholesalers. Although the middlemen line their pockets with big profit, they fail to provide safe and nutritious food to the consumer level in urban areas.
Against this backdrop, the Bangladesh Railway is planning permanently operate the special train for transporting vegetables and fruits from different parts of the country.
Bangladesh Railway had taken a plan to buy 50 broad-gauge wagons and 75 metre-gauge wagons. The plans also included purchase of refrigerated containers.
The department had taken the plan following a proposal from the DAE as the government body on agricultural research proposed that there will be a lot of benefits for traders if there is a space for loading, unloading and wholesale of fruits and vegetables in the empty spaces next to the railway stations. Such arrangements can be made in Tejgaon, Shyampur and Kamalapur in Dhaka.
India has introduced a special train, which transports vegetables and fruits to different parts of the country to help farmers get better prices and reduce wastage. The name of the special service is ‘Kisan Rail’.
