A Dhaka University student began a unique protest at the Kamalapur railway station premises earlier this month to push for a six-point demand that includes elimination of mismanagement at the railway department. He was later joined by his friends and other aggrieved people. The student, Mohiuddin Roni, ended his protests after submission of a petition at Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s political office in Dhanmondi and assurance from the top railway officials of considering his demands.
Roni’s protest began days before the Eid-ul-Adha, one of the two Muslim festivals when demand for train tickets goes up significantly. This is quite disturbing to see people queuing up for advance train tickets since mid-night, standing for hours and finally many of them returning empty-handed, while some people selling the tickets around the corner at high prices. This is the scenario witnessed by the nation, reported by the media and noted by the authorities every year ahead of Eid. The concerned authorities promise steps to bring those engaged in selling train tickets in the black market to book, but nothing follows afterwards and we see the repetition of the same scenario in the following year.
Many people choose the railways due to the traffic jams on highways and other hassles that come from travelling longer distances by road during Eid season. For them, travelling by train is the first choice because the tickets are also relatively cheaper.
Railway officials said 26,672 Eid tickets were allocated for sale every day through online and at Dhaka’s five railway stations – Kamalapur, Tejgaon, Dhaka Airport, Dhaka Cantonment and Fulbaria. They said the railway have no additional coaches or engines to accommodate additional passengers. Tickets for 36 intercity trains were sold out on the days designated for selling Eid tickets. Like the previous years special trains were also added to accommodate the additional passengers for certain routes.But nothing could stop of out of the counter sales of train tickets at high prices. Sources said a vested quarter in the railway gets a share of the proceeds from black market sales of tickets.
This scenario at the railway is repeated every year ahead of two Eid festivals and the concerned officials come up with the same old statements when media people ask them about the mess in stations. The complaints about the services rendered by the Bangladesh Railway are nothing new. But the protest held by the DU student was the first of its kind in railway’s history, which might have prompted the top railway officials to come up with assurance of fixing the issues. A former railway minister soon after taking charge of the railway promised to find out the ‘black cat’ in department, apparently referring to a vested quarter that prohibits the state-run institution from improving its services to attract passengers. The black cat still remains untouched.
