No DEMU train operative, no one takes the blame

The locomotives the railway bought from the US in 1953 are still operative. The coaches bought from Germany in the 80’s are still being used to carry passengers. But none of the 20 sets of DEMU (Diesel-Electric Multiple Unit) trains bought from China in 2013 are operative now.

None of those who planned to buy the DEMU trains, those who were involved with the process of buying, and those who went abroad to check the train’s effectiveness had to take the blame of this gigantic loss of public money. Instead, most of them have retired from their jobs with all the government benefits.

The government had to spend Tk 6 billion to buy the DEMU train sets. It made an income of Tk 220 million by operating those while the maintenance and fuel cost was around Tk 300 million.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, railway minister Nurul Islam said, “Surely those who were involved with the process of buying DEMU train sets did that out of some considerations. Taking action against them after so many years is complex.”

Concerned people, however, said projects are taken without proper assessment and vetting as the persons involved get indemnity easily. Because of this callousness and lack of proper assessment it is seen that the projects fail to fulfill the primary objectives.

Two engines at both ends and a carriage in between form a DEMU train set. The railway bought 20 sets of DEMU train from China in 2013. The trains started to become inoperative since three years of buying those. Currently all the DEMU train sets are inoperative and lying at different railway station.

The economic life of each engine was estimated to be 20 years while the economic life of a coach and a wagon was estimated to be 35 and 45 years respectively. But a DEMU train lasted for about three to seven years.

According to the railway, since the beginning of operations until 2019, all the DEMU trains carried nearly 9.7 million passengers and earned Tk 217.4 million. Over half of the train sets became inoperative around mid-2020. Those trains were not operated since the onslaught of Covid-19.

Nearly Tk 105 million was spent as maintenance cost of the trains. The railway authorities did not keep any records of its fuel cost. A source said nearly Tk 300 million was spent for fuel and maintenance since the operations of DEMU train. Besides, there is the expenditure of salaries and allowances of the workers. That means the railway incurred loss by operating DEMU train as well.

The then communications minister Syed Abul Hossain floated the idea of DEMU train after Awami League formed the government in 2009. A proposal was sent for the project from the revenue sector (government expenditure) to the planning commission for approval in 2010. But the planning commission rejected the proposal. Later, communications minister Syed Abul Hossain, mentioning that the project is very important and will help reduce traffic congestion in Dhaka, wrote a letter to the then planning minister AK Khandaker in July that year. Then the project got approval.

Three companies took part in the tender. Two Chinese companies are CSR Ziyang and Tangshan Railway Vehicle Co. Ltd while the third one is Indonesia’s PT Inka. Ziyang amd PT Inka were announced ineligible after evaluating the tender and Tangshan, despite being the second cheapest bidder, was given the work. Railway sources said according to the tradition another tender was supposed to be floated as two organisations were found to be ineligible. But Tangshan was given the task rather hastily.

As per the agreement, alongside supplying the DEMU train sets, the company was supposed to provide 19 types of main parts, 37 types of general parts, 137 types of maintenance parts and 37 types of tools and maintenance equipment. But the project officials did not take delivery of those properly, said railway sources. That’s why the necessary parts for maintenance could not be found later.

When asked, former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain told Prothom Alo on Monday night, “DEMU train is popular around the globe. That's why the government took the decision to buy the train. I only took the initiative to implement it.”

He further said it is the responsibilities of the railway officials to check the mechanical specifications of the train. The minister is not supposed to do that.

TA Chowdhury was the director general of Bangladesh Railway when the project was drawn up. He went on retirement at the end of 2011. DEMU train did not arrive in the country then. Md. Abu Taher was the next director general of Bangladesh Railway. DEMU train sets reached the country during his time. Currently on retirement, Md. Abu Taher told Prothom Alo, “DEMU train was only received during my time. The process of buying was completed earlier.”

He also said, “We had some observations regarding the DEMU train but we had nothing to do then.”

The then chief mechanical engineer of Bangladesh Railway, Saidur Rahman, was the director of DEMU project. The importing process was completed during his time. When criticisms began about the DEMU project, a committee, led by the railway’s mechanical department official Shamsuzzaman (later DG), was formed to investigate it. The investigation committee found the project director and the officials who visited China under the DEMU project responsible for the situation. Following this, Saidur Rahman was made an OSD (officer on special duty). He went into retirement as an OSD. No action was taken anyone else.

After retirement Saidur Rahman was made the additional project director of Metrorail project (Uttara to Motijheel route). He is no longer there.

After making Saidur Rahman an OSD, the railway’s chief mechanical engineer Iftiar Hossain was made the PD of DEMU project and worked there until completion of the project in June 2015.

Railway sources said some 10-12 officials of railway’s mechanical engineering and civil engineering were involved with the composition of project proposal, drawing up the deeds of tender and evaluation of tender process. Most of them are now on retirement.

The eight people, who were sent to China at the cost of Tk 4.8 million were tasked to check effectiveness and other necessary issues of DEMU train, reveal the documents. Among the eight officials, six were from railway ministry and railway division and one each from the planning commission and Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED).

Technicalities of DEMU are different from the existing locomotives and coaches operate in Bangladesh. Parts of this train are not available in the country. But the railway authorities did not take any plan to cover the lack of experience and maintenance of DEMU train.

Railway sources said existing locomotives are sent to workshops for maintenance once in every one-and-a-half years. The undergears of DEMU are below the coaches. Repairing those needs specialised infrastructure, but the railway does not have it. The out of order DEMU trains were taken to the railway workshops at Pahartali in Chattogram and at Parbatipur. Those were somehow repaired there but became out of order within a few days.

The project proposal (DPP) said DEMU train operate in the suburbs of densely populated Dhaka and Chattogram cities to reduce traffic congestion. It will make commuting of officer goers easier. But after starting the operation, it was found that operating the DEMU train in the suburbs was not possible. There was no evidence of saving time as the speed of DEMU was equal to other trains.

The train used to commute between Dhaka and Narayanganj 34 times a day. This route was chosen as the main route for the DEMU as the route is smaller and the number of passenger is higher. But problems appear in the undergears of the train immediately after the inauguration of the train on the route on 24 April 2013.

The windows of DEMU are not wide enough and cannot be opened completely. As a result, it hampers the movement of air. Many passengers fell ill during the summer. On the other hand, many passengers faced problems to board the train as its floor is much higher than the platform. Because of these problems, the number of DEMU trains on the Dhaka-Narayanganj route was reduced within a month of its inauguration. The trains did not even have any washroom facility.

Engineer Md. Asaduzzaman, a private contractor, sent a proposal to railway to repair the DEMU trains last year. Sources said the railway authorities gave him the responsibilities informally. He could repair a set of the train at a cost of about Tk 3 million. But it is yet to be seen whether the train could carry passengers.

Railways minister Nurul Islam told Prothom Alo, “We would understand whether the train has been repaired well if it runs for two three months. There will be criticism if it becomes inoperative in a short time. That’s why other set of trains will be repaired if this is found to be repaired well.”

Loss of railway is a loss of public money. Likewise, the about to be gigantic loss in DEMU project would also be the loss of public money. In 2021-22 financial year, railway incurred a loss of Tk 23 billion.

Speaking about this, communications expert and professor of civil engineering at BUET, Shamsul Haque, said, “Becoming inoperative in Bangladesh means quality DEMU train was not procured. The main condition of buying is to ensure a quality product. The railway officials could not do that.”

He further said the project was imposed from above. There could be collusion between the politicians and the suppliers.

Mentioning that the railway officials should have considered scarcity of parts in Bangladesh, Shamsul Haque also said, “The officials did not speak either out of fear of political leadership or due to their lack of technical knowledge. The persons responsible for this should be punished so that others could take lessons from that and remain cautious about taking up such projects in the future.”

* The report, originally published in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo, has been rewritten in English by Shameem Reza