Train derailment in Bhairab on Saturday intensified the sufferings of commuters since the bus service on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway remained suspended for the third consecutive day due to the awful condition of the road.
Bhairab station officials said that rail communication on the Dhaka-Mymensingh route was suspended since 8:30am after two compartments of the Dhaka-bound intercity train, Egarosindhu, veered off the tracks at the entrance of Bhairab Railway Station in
Kishoreganj. The train was on the way to Dhaka from Kishoreganj.
Thousands of people were depending on the trains with no buses running between Dhaka and Mymensingh since Thursday.
The Tangail District Bus Owners Association on Saturday called an indefinite transport strike on the Dhaka-Tangail route in protest against the dilapidated condition of the road.
Bus-owners on Thursday suspended all service on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway for an indefinite period, demanding immediate repair of the road which has become unfit for traffic.
Two trains got stuck at Bhairab station and another at Kuliarchar of the district after the derailment, said Bangladesh Railway officials.
The Kishoreganj-bound Egarosindur Express
from Dhaka, Chittagong-bound Nasirabad Express from Mymensingh and Dhaka-bound Isa Khan Express from Mymensingh had to remain stationary till 6:00pm, said the officials.
A relief train from Akhaura in Brahmanbaria reached the spot around 12:00 noon and started salvage work, said Bhairab's station-master Abdul Motaleb. It will take two to three hours to resume the train service on the route, he added.
The suspension of bus service has caused untold suffering to the commuters who travel from the capital on various routes to Mymensingh, Netrakona, Kishoreganj, Sherpur and Jamalpur on a regular basis. It has also cut off communication with parts of Gazipur district.
Our correspondent in Tangail reported that leaders of the Tangail Bus-Coach Owners Association, Tangail Minibus Owners Association and Tangail Bus-Coach-Minibus Labour Organization, at a press conference in Tangail, jointly announced an indefinite strike from today in protest against the horrendous condition of the road.
The transport leaders said that the heavy rain in the last few days had caused the formation of deep ruts and potholes in the highway. Consequently, it had become impossible for them to operate buses on the route.
Valuable parts of the buses are being regularly damaged, causing huge financial losses for the owners, they mentioned.
It now takes up to eight hours to reach Dhaka from Tangail, which usually took two hours before the degradation of the highway, they added.
President Zahidur Rahman Kakon and secretary Kamruzzaman Khan of the Tangail Minibus Association, acting secretary Safiul Alam Tusar of Tangail Bus-Coach Owners Association, president Chitto Ranjan and secretary Lutfor Rahman Lalju of Tangail Labour Association and adviser of Tangail Transport Association Faruk Ahmed were present at the press conference, along with others.
Source : New Age
