Dhaka-Narayanganj Rail Service Resumes

After being suspended for eight months, rail service between Dhaka and Narayanganj was restarted today (1 August), although with fewer passengers and higher rates.

According to Sardar Shahadat Ali, additional director general (operations) of the Bangladesh Railway, service has resumed, with a train departing the suburban platform at Kamalapur station at 5am.

In order to assist the construction of the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project and the Dhaka Narayangang Double Line Rail Project, operations of the Dhaka-Narayganj railway segment were halted on December 4 of last year.

Although the authority promised to restart services after three months, it took an additional five months.

However, the train authorities increased the cost of the trip from Dhaka to Narayanganj from Tk15 to Tk20 each person.

In addition, the railway opted to run just eight pairs of trains each day on the track, which is less than half of the 16 pairs that were run before to Covid-19.

When service was restored following the Covid-19 lockout, the authorities previously lowered the number of trains to 10 pairs. The number of trains is currently being decreased even more.

The trains were formerly run in this segment from Dhaka from daybreak till 10 p.m. The final train will now depart Kamalapur at 8:30 p.m. under the new administration.

The last train will now depart Narayanganj for Dhaka at 11:35 pm instead of the customary 11 pm.

According to a statement made by Shaukat Jamil Mohsin, the railway's deputy director for traffic transport, the newly built dual gauge line has officially opened in the Dhaka-Gendaria segment as part of the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project. 

The Bangladesh Railway's Divisional Railway Manager for Dhaka, Muhammad Shafiqur Rahman, said that the Narayanganj line train had previously operated as a local train.

However, because the railway's carriages are equipped with fans and lights, the local train has been transformed into a commuter train.

He said, "Fares will also slightly rise."