Bangladesh News

Thousands of passengers suffered as railway employees and workers paralysed train services across the country yesterday, enforcing a strike for the first time to protest the government move to restructure Bangladesh Railway.

The striking staff held rallies and staged demonstrations at different railway installations including offices, workshops and stations during the dawn-to-dusk strike, enforced by Railway Sramik Karmachari Sangram Parishad (RSKSP).

They also drove away officials and staff from their offices and locked those at different places in the country. Manhandling of officials by stranded train passengers were also reported.

Railway sources said turning the railway into a corporate entity is part of the Tk 3,500 crore Railway Improvement Project approved by the Ecnec (Executive Committee of the National Economic Council) recently. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to provide most of the funds for the project, and the government is going to sign a deal with the ADB today.

The RSKSP in a press release yesterday said it went for the strike following failure of the talks with the Communications Minister Nazmul Huda on October 9 and 10.

Reports received in Dhaka said the station master’s office at Fouzdarhat was set ablaze during the strike. Station Manager Abdus Salam of Kumira railway station in Sitakunda upazila was manhandled by agitated passengers of an Akhaura-bound train that got stuck due to the strike .

Our Chittagong office reports: Railway system in the port city came to a standstill due to the strike. No trains could ply to and from Chittagong, and activities remained suspended also at the Central Railway Building (CRB), headquarters of the railway’s eastern zone.

The demonstrating workers and employees put up barricades in front of the CRB and prevented other staff from performing their duties.

Three Chittagong-bound trains got stuck at different spots in Dhaka-Chittagong route with the passengers suffering badly.

Chittagong-bound trains Turna Nishitha and Dhaka Mail from Dhaka got stuck at Bhatiari and Sitakunda stations, and Udayan Express from Sylhet at Barabkunda station.

”Actually we did not have much to do when all the workers and employees engaged in operating trains were either forced to stop work or did so willingly,” Divisional Railway Manager Ibrahim Khalil Ullah told The Daily Star.

They forced out all the on-duty managers from cabin controls (from where trains get clearance) and the operators from signal boxes to keep those under lock and key, he said.

Our Rajshahi correspondent reports that the striking staff started gathering at Rajshahi railway station early in the morning and demonstrated there for about five hours.

They prevented movement of all local and inter-city trains from Rajshahi and locked the booking office, ticket counters and the station master’s office.

Later, they brought out a procession and held a rally on the BR west zonal office premises. They drove out all officials and employees from their offices.

Our Nilphamari correspondent reports: About four thousand agitating workers and employees of Saidpur railway division besieged three inter-city trains at Saidpur station and stopped all activities at the country’s largest railway workshop at Saidpur.

They prevented all officials and employees of the workshop from entering it.

Our Sylhet correspondent says no trains could ply to and from the city during the 12-hour strike. All offices at the railway station also remained closed.