Freight trains pull railway to profit amid pandemic

Bangladesh Railway’s earnings from cargo services shot up in recent months amid the pandemic as it managed to attract traders from Bangladesh and India.

The government is expanding the rail network to give traders more facilities to transport their commodities or marketable agro products.

Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan said they encouraged businesses to use freight trains by offering them better facilities. “We want them to start using this railway services,” he said.

Freight trains transported 5,445,000 tonnes of goods in the 2020-21
fiscal year, earning a Tk 350.8 crore revenue, up from Tk 246.55 crore in the previous FY.

Officials said new rail lines were being constructed and connected to sea, land, and inland ports to increase freight services. A new project has been undertaken to build rail lines between Dhaka and the Payra port.

Besides, a 64.75km rail line between Khulna and Mongla port is being constructed with an estimated revised cost of Tk 4,261 crore. The project’s cumulative physical progress was 60 per cent till June this year.

“The goal is to transport goods from Mongla port to other parts of the country using freight trains. It is expected to be operational by June 2024,” Sardar Shahadat Ali, additional director general (operation) of Bangladesh Railway, told The Business Post.

Officials say at least 30 per cent of goods from Mongla and Payra ports need to be transported by freight trains for the routes to be profitable.

Most domestic freight trains now run between the Chattogarm port and the Kamlapur inland container depot in Dhaka.

Few cargo trains transport goods, including fuel, heavy infrastructure items and fruits, to destinations across the country.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s revenue jumped in FY20-21 from container train services with India. 

In FY20-21, freight trains between the two countries transported 36.94 lakh MT goods and earned a revenue of Tk 176.74 crore, up from Tk 76.59 crore in the previous FY.

After the 1947 partition, seven rail links operated between India and then East Pakistan till 1965.

Currently, five cross-border lines are in operation – Benapole (Bangladesh)-Petrapole (India), Darshana (Bangladesh)-Gede (India), Rohanpur (Bangladesh)-Singhabad (India), Birol (Bangladesh)-Radhikapur (India), Haldibari-Chilahati.

Haldibari-Chilahati is the latest route to open and is used exclusively to import stones.

Most of the onion, rice, corn, and fly ash consignments are imported through the Darshana-Gede route. Cosmetics, containers are imported through Benapole-Petrapole.

Bangladesh Railway said Nepal and Bhutan would use the Bangladeshi seaports and transport their goods using freight trains.

Minister Sujan told The Business Post that goods are mostly transported via trains in India, and Bangladesh was also aiming for that. “It is profitable for both parties,” he said.

Railway officials say goods transport via cargo trains is growing in the country while passenger trains are limping amid the pandemic. In this Covid-19 period, the railway lost around Tk 1,500 crore in 14 months.

An estimated 3.73 crore passengers used trains in FY20-21, helping the railway to earn Tk 531.14 crore, down from Tk 770.15 crore in the previous FY. In FY18-19, the revenue was Tk 1,035.24 crore.