No sight of bullet train, 'waste' in circular railway

Bangladesh Railway started a feasibility study in 2018 with the aim of running bullet trains on the Dhaka-Chittagong route.

The government agency spent about Tk 1 billion to implement the plan. But, the project never saw the light of day.

It has spent huge amount of money to conduct the feasibility study of various projects including electric trains like bullet trains, circular trains.

People have been shown dreams of traveling by high-speed trains. But the project was not taken up.

Since the Awami League government took over in 2009, 20 feasibility studies and technical support projects have been identified, with an expenditure of Tk 8.39 billion. But the projects were not taken up after completion of feasibility studies.

However, the feasibility study showed that all the projects were feasible and economically viable. And there are questions about the cost of technical support projects.

Currently another eight feasibility studies and technical support projects are underway. The estimated cost of these projects is Tk 3.64 billion.

Generally, the feasibility study is conducted only after the policy consent of the government to implement a big project.

But there are allegations against the railway department that the government agency has wasted money in the name of whimsical feasibility studies.

The persons concerned say that such projects create an opportunity for underhand commissions. Officials also get an opportunity to travel abroad. But the railway continues to incur losses.

Railway minister Nurul Islam Sujan, however, does not see anything wrong with spending money on feasibility studies. He told Prothom Alo that the feasibility studies are being conducted in view of the long-term plans. The feasibility study is conducted on a single project even two or three times. This must be accepted in order to receive funding.

But the question is, why does the railway not get funding after the feasibility study? Why are there feasibility studies on the project in which there is uncertainty of financing?

Experts feel if a long time passes after the feasibility study, it is necessary to conduct another feasibility study before implementation of the project.

The railway itself gave the news of the feasibility study of bullet trains. That was extensively published in the media. China’s China Railway Design Corporation and Bangladesh’s Majumder Enterprise were hired as consultants of this work.

By 2022, the consulting firm submitted a design and other reports by spending about Tk 1 billion. They said that Tk 960 billion will be required to implement the bullet train project.

Consultancy firm suggests setting up railway tracks on flyover for bullet train. According to the study, it will take 55 minutes by a bullet train to uninterruptedly travel from Dhaka to Chattogram.

Amid conducting the feasibility study for the bullet train, funding was requested from various countries including China. China Railway Group and China Railway Design had shown interest in implementing the project under the G2G (Government to Government Contract) method. But there was no progress.

Now the railway is conducting a feasibility for electric trains. The feasibility study was started last July with the aim of starting electric trains from Narayanganj to Chittagong via Dhaka and from Tongi in Gazipur to Joydebpur.

The responsibility has been given to a Turkish organisation called Tumas Turkish Engineering Consulting and Contracting. According to railway sources, the project has been taken up at a cost of Tk 150 million to conduct the feasibility study of electric trains. Its cost may increase further.

In Dhaka Strategy Transport Plan (STP) there is no recommendation for circular railway and subway. However, in 2018, the railway undertook a feasibility study project to build a circular railway around Dhaka.

China Railway Sichuan Survey and Design Group Company and Bates Consulting Services Limited and Engineers and Advisors Limited of Bangladesh were appointed. They conducted a feasibility study for three years by spending Tk 250 million.

After the study, the consultants said that Tk 710 billion will be required on the implementation of the project. Fund could not be arranged for the implementation of the project. So, it did not happen.

At the same time, the bridges division signed an agreement with a consortium of several consulting firms, including Spain's TIPSA, to build four subways in and around Dhaka in 2018. It costs Tk 3.22 billion.

Apart from this, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited is working on the construction of six metro rail lines in Dhaka by 2030. Some of these six lines will go to the airport and some to the subway.

A railway official told Prothom Alo on the condition of anonymity, circular, subway and metro rail are almost the same type of public transport. It is almost impossible to build all three together in a densely populated city like Dhaka.

It is difficult to invest so much. As a result, feasibility study projects of the railway and the bridges division for subway and circular rail projects have been nothing but a wastage.

A project was taken up in 2016 to conduct the feasibility of constructing a railway from Bhanga in Faridpur to Payra in Patuakhali via Barisal. After appointing a consultancy firm in 2018, the project was developed by the consultancy firm along with the design in June last year at a cost of Tk 500 million. The estimated cost of implementing this project is around TK 440 billion.

In 2016, the directorate of railway signed a memorandum of understanding with an spurious British company called DP Rail to build the railway line. After that, the matter did not progress. The government also tried to get funds from various countries including China and Saudi Arabia. But there was progress.

A feasibility study for construction of a mixed gauge railway line from Jalanihat to Kaptai in Chittagong was taken up in 2017. About Tk 95 million have been spent in two years. After that there is no more initiative to build the railway.

A project was taken up around 2015 to conduct a feasibility study for constructing another dual gauge railway line parallel to the existing railway line on the Jaydebpur-Mymensingh-Jamalpur route. Tk 85 million is spent. After that, there was a negotiation with China to implement this project. But at the end, China backed off. No one invested anymore.

Another project was taken up in 2017 to conduct a feasibility study for the rail link in Jamalpur Economic Zone and prepare the detailed design. Tk 47.5 million is spent in two years. At the same time, the feasibility study and complete design of railway line in Mirsharai-Feni economic zone was implemented. It also cost Tk 50 million. But there is no progress in the original construction.

Tk 32.7 million has been spent on feasibility study for construction of overpass/underpass on railway up to Narayanganj-Joydebpur (end in 2019). Of these, the Roads and Highways Department has constructed two overpasses in Dhaka. But the railway authorities did nothing in four years.

But in many cases the railway implements projects without proper feasibility studies. A railway official told Prothom Alo, on condition of anonymity, that the feasibility study of buying demo trains has not been conducted. About TK 40 billion has been spent. Later, it was found that the trains turned useless.

The railway is now financed mostly by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan's international aid agency JICA, China and India. Railway sources say that ADB and JICA often impose conditions on implementation of technical support projects.

However, there are questions about the benefits of technical support projects. Such projects include increasing efficiency in implementing core projects. There is a railway reform project. Some projects have created some new posts in railways. And apart from generating some big books and some official trips abroad, nothing much happened.

For example, the Bangladesh Railway Reform Project started in 2006. Australia's Smack Consulting firm pulled the project to 2019. Under this, Tk 1.31 billion have been spent on salaries, allowances and vehicles of consultants, generating thick books.

In most cases, top railway officials take jobs in consulting firms after retirement. There are allegations of 'lobbying' by giving benefits to consulting firms while in employment and later joining them.

Md Abu Taher was the director general of railways for about three years from 2012. When asked how ethical it is to join a consulting firm after retirement, he told Prothom Alo that if one can afford to work after retirement, it should not be wrong to do so.

When asked why the feasibility study project is taken repeatedly, but the project is not implemented, Abu Taher said that the feasibility study project mostly comes from the upper echelon. But many projects are not implemented due to lack of funding.

After the formation of the government led by Awami League in 2009, approximately Tk 750 billion have been spent on the development of railways. But during this time the range of railway services has narrowed. Less trains are running than before. The loss burden of railways is also heavy. In the fiscal year 2020-21, Railways has reported a loss of around Tk 13.85 billion.

Professor of the Department of Civil Engineering of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and transport specialist Shamsul Haque told Prothom Alo, a lot of development projects are being implemented during the tenure of the current government. Seeing that, many people came up with the projects and presented these in front of those in influential positions.

From there the feasibility study projects were born. There is no benefit to the people except the waste of money in such a process. He suggested that the responsibility of feasibility study should go to the Planning Commission. Then more than one organisation cannot take up the project on the same subject. And only the implementable projects will be taken up.