S A Shofiee, Sylhet:
The 179-kilometer-long Sylhet-Akhaura railway line has become a source of fear for passengers. This dilapidated section has 13 highly dangerous outdated bridges. In the language of the railway, which are ‘dead stops’. There are also defects in the line. Along with these, the old engine and bogie of the train are at risk. As a result, numerous accidents are happening again and again. Many passengers have lost their lives. Many others have suffered various injuries and have been paralyzed.
Four bogies of the ‘Udayan Express’ that left Chittagong last Tuesday morning derailed in Mogla Bazar, Sylhet. Such frequent accidents also affect the train schedule in this section.
Railway officials said that earlier trains used to run at a speed of 70-80 kilometers on the Sylhet-Kulaura-Akhaura section. Now that speed has come down to half, i.e. 40 km/h.
Railway officials said that the Akhaura-Sylhet section from Rashidpur to Maizgaon is the most risky due to the hilly and winding roads. However, he said that more accidents occur in this section due to dilapidated lines, outdated bridges and old coaches.
According to the information of the Eastern Zone of the Railways, 12 to 15 thousand passengers travel between Sylhet-Dhaka and Sylhet-Chittagong on the Parabat, Jayantika, Paharika, Udayan, Upban and Kalni Express trains on the Akhaura-Sylhet railway route every day.
Farooq Mahmud Chowdhury, president of the Citizens for Good Governance-Nasak Sylhet, said that trains are called safe vehicles. However, this label of trains has come into question due to the Sylhet-Akhaura rail section. Frequent accidents on this section have made train travel unsafe. He demanded the rapid modernization of the train line and train coaches.
In most places of the Sylhet-Akhaura rail section, the nuts and bolts of the sleepers have come loose. Again, the rail line is wobbly due to the nuts and bolts being loose in some places. There is not enough stone between the two sleepers of the railway.
The condition of the bridges in this section is even more fragile. According to the information of the Railway Engineering Department, the life of the bridge expires after 50-55 years of construction. However, 90 percent of the bridges on this route are over 70 years old. The railway authorities have identified 13 such spots as ‘dead stops’.
Although all the railway sections of the country now have dual gauge lines, trains are running on the British-era railway line from Akhaura to Sylhet. In 2019, ECNEC approved a project of Tk 16,144 lakh to convert the Sylhet-Akhaura railway line to dual gauge. The work on this project is supposed to be completed by 2025. However, the work on this project has not even started. Several organizations have recently launched a movement on this demand.
According to relevant sources, 8 bridges within 15 kilometers from Sylhet to Moglabazar station and 5 within 164 kilometers from Moglabazar to Akhaura have been identified as ‘dead stops’.
According to the engineering branch of the railway, the most dangerous bridges on the Sylhet-Akhaura section include bridge number 200 of the Shamsernagar-Tilagaon section, bridges number 43, 45 and 47 of the Moglabazar-Maizgaon section, bridges number 5 and 7 of the Kulaura-Baramchal section, bridge number 141 of the Satgaon-Sreemangal section, bridge number 157 of the Srimangal-Bhanugach section, bridge number 29 of the Maizgaon-Vaterabazar section and bridge number 56 of the Mantala-Itakhola section. Since there is no project to renovate these bridges, there is no possibility of renovating them right now, the officials concerned said.
Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet Md. Sarwar Alam said, “The issue of the train accident on this route is being seriously investigated. In addition, I have talked to the railways about increasing the number of trains and coaches to reduce the suffering of Sylhet passengers.”
