BR act amendment: Passenger-friendly services should be objective

Bangladesh Railway (BR) law is being amended 133 years after it was enacted in 1890. The BR has drafted the ‘Bangladesh Railway Amendment Act’ with the aid of the Infrastructure Investment Facilitation Company (IIFC) as it had failed to get a private firm after repeated rounds of bidding. The British-made law has kept the number of fines and punishments too trivial. The draft also suggests operational changes, incorporating modern services like high-speed train, electric train and electric traction to cope with the demand of the present time.
The proposed law has sought to increase the amount of fines from 50 paisa to Tk 2,000 as punishment varies according to the gravity of the offence. The lowest fine of Tk 2,000 has been proposed for availing a train service without ticket and the highest Tk 10,000 for crime like threatening rail service or passengers’ lives. Both fines and the highest two years’ imprisonment have been proposed in cases like opening up unauthorised rail crossings that have caused severe train accidents in recent times.
The existing railway act was modified in 1935. Pakistan inherited its authority from the Indian Independence Act 1947. Later, Bangladesh got its ownership after its independence in 1971. Primarily, the BR proposed for a new act but after consultation with all concerned, a decision was made to update the act. The BR received the draft on August 29 and then sent it to the railways ministry for necessary steps to discuss its various sections with the ministries concerned.
We have seen increases in railway fee and the introduction of new locomotives in the name of modernisation, but the quality of service is still messy and the Demu train was wasted. The amendment of BR act should not be an excuse for increasing fees by levying more fines, rather passenger-friendly services, easy ticketing, accountable and responsible services.
Good laws are no good for the people because laws are abused or ignored by corrupt officials. The government is not of law and not for law.