Rail service suspended nationwide

The train drivers and their staff of the Bangladesh Railway have started a nationwide indefinite work abstention for running allowance and other demands.

While visiting the Kamalapur station this morning (January 28), risingbd reporter found that hundreds of passengers are waiting at the rail station.

Bangladesh Railway operates more than 350 passenger trains, including over 100 intercity trains, every day. All these trains are shut now due to the work abstention of running staff and workers' and employees' unions.

Shahidul Islam, a Khulna-bound passenger from Kamalapur station, said I bought a ticket online earlier. However, the railway authority didn’t inform us anything regarding the closure.

Hamida Begum, another passenger said her mother is a cancer patient. To get treatment they came to Dhaka but now stuck in the station.

A meeting between the railway officers and running staff ended unsuccessfully last night.

After the meeting, Bangladesh Railway Running Staff and Workers Association’s Executive President Md Saidur Rahman announced that their strike will continue.

Due to manpower shortage, train divers and their assistants (locomasters, assistant locomasters), guards, and travelling ticket checkers have traditionally worked beyond their duty hours and received extra pay for that. They also received pension benefits based on the pay for their extra work until 2021. However, in January 2022, the Ministry of Finance canceled that benefit for running staff. Later, Bangladesh Railway Running Staff Unity Council started their strike.