There were two pieces of news on the same day. Railway minister Zillul Hakim said, "There is 23 thousand acres of railway land encroached upon all over the country. Many have even drawn up false papers and taken over the railway land." The other piece of news was regarding the increase in railway fare. Rather than offering concession to long-distance passengers, the railway has decided to increase revenue by Tk 3 billion (Tk 300 crore) per year. This is to come into effect from 1 April.
It has been learnt from Prothom Alo reports that no concessions in train fare are offered for travel up till 100km. For the next 101 to 225km, a 20 per cent concession is offered. Then from 251 to 400km, a 25 per cent cut in fare is given. The concession for anything above this distance is 30 per cent.
The present train fare is .39 taka per km. The fare goes up and VAT added in the case of air conditioned and other upper class travel. According to railway officials, when the new far comes into effect, the Shovon class fare from Dhaka to Chattogram will be increased by around Tk 120. The air conditioned berth fare will go up by around Tk 216. However, the fares from Dhaka to Narsingdi, Joydebpur, Faridpur or anywhere less than 100km distant, will not be increased. The railway authorities say that this will increase revenue by Tk 3 billion.
The minister revealed railway land worth billions of taka all over the country had been encroached upon and occupied. That hardly reassures the people. They will only be reassured when they see effective measure being taken for the land to be recovered.
The railway authorities have taken this decision to increase fares at a time when people are at loss with spiralling prices of essentials. The added pressure of train fare before Eid will be another blow.
The railway wants to increase revenue by Tk 3 billion by putting added burden on the passengers. But there is no initiative to reduce the rampant corruption and waste in the organisation. Simply raising the fare is the easiest solution.
Bangladesh Railways is counting Tk 20 billion (Tk 2000 crore) annually in losses. Yet in neighbouring India, the railway is a profitable and public-friendly form of transport. Out railway limps along.
While the railway is said to be a safe form of transport, train accidents are occurring regularly due to the negligence and carelessness of the railway authorities. A few years ago the passengers launched movements in various areas against the black marketing of train tickets. Things have hardly improved.
The Awami League government takes credit for creating a separate ministry for the railway. It has taken up projects for new rail routes and improvements. But even after having so much resources, there is no answer to the question of why this organisation has failed to be self-reliant. A former railway minister professed to be clamping down on the black cat of corruption, but was victim of the back cat himself, the black cat that still rules the railway.
The railway minister discussed matters with the prime minister and spoke of shutting down the market of an autonomous organisation set up in railway land. When that organisation built up the market on the land, why was legal action not taken? The minister revealed railway land worth billions of taka all over the country had been encroached upon and occupied. That hardly reassures the people. They will only be reassured when they see effective measure being taken for the land to be recovered.