Railway earnings rise in FY26, but income still trails expenditure

Bangladesh Railway’s revenue increased by Tk 221 crore in the 2025-26 fiscal year, but it continued to spend significantly more than it earned despite a modest improvement in its operating ratio.

According to a Bangladesh Railway press release issued on Sunday(19 July), it earned Tk 2,066.38 crore in FY26, up from Tk 1,845 crore in the previous fiscal year.

Its total operating expenditure, including salaries, allowances, pensions and maintenance of tracks and rolling stock, stood at Tk 3,955 crore, resulting in an expenditure-to-income ratio of 1.91, an improvement from 2.09 in FY25.

As a result, the operating ratio (expenditure-to-revenue ratio) improved to 1.91, down from 2.09 in the previous fiscal year, indicating that the gap between income and expenditure has narrowed.

However, Bangladesh Railway spends around Tk1,000 crore annually on pensions, which, it argues, should not be treated as an operating expense because pensions are not directly related to railway operations, it added in a press release.

Excluding pension expenditure, the operating ratio stands at 1.43 (Tk2,955 crore in operating expenses against Tk2,066.38 crore in revenue). This means that, excluding pensions, operating expenditure exceeded revenue by 43pc.

Bangladesh Railway is a state-owned public transport service, and its fares are set at subsidised rates.

Passenger fares have not been increased since 2016, even though the costs of maintenance materials, imported equipment (due to the higher US dollar exchange rate), employee salaries and allowances, pensions, and fuel have all risen significantly.

Given that fares have remained unchanged for the past ten years, revising them to a reasonable level in line with current market conditions and the fares charged by other modes of transport would substantially reduce the gap between revenue and expenditure.