Dhaka Bureau: Railway Minister Zillul Hakim said that in the financial year 2022–23, the revenue of the railway was 1 thousand 783 crores and the expenditure was 3 thousand 307 crores. The total loss of railways in this financial year is Rs. 1,524 crore. However, this expenditure included salaries, pensions, etc. of retired railway officers and employees. Besides, the cost of railways has increased by increasing the cost of police, security forces (RNB), schools, hospitals.
The Minister of Railways gave this information in response to another question of Muhammad Saiful Islam in the National Parliament on Thursday (February 15).
He said that the daily average income of a passenger train on the railways is three and a half lakh taka, while the average income of a freight train is about 7-8 lakh taka. However, although more than 350 passenger trains are running, only 20–25 freight trains are running, so the income of the railways is decreasing.
Zillul Hakim said that out of the total 64 districts in the country, 43 have rail connectivity. The remaining 21 districts are in the process of being connected to the rail network.
In response to another question from MP Morshed Alam, the Railway Minister said that Railways is a service organization. A total of 99 new projects have been taken up since 2009, after the formation of the Awami League government. In the ADP of the 2023–24 financial year, 25 investment projects and 3 technical assistance projects, i.e., a total of 28 development projects, are underway at Bangladesh Railway. In the past period, the government has constructed 948 km of new railway lines in the country, converted 340.17 km of meter gauge railway lines to dual gauge, rehabilitated or reconstructed 1,391,32 km of railway lines, constructed 148 new station buildings, rehabilitated or reconstructed 238 station buildings, constructed 1,622 new railway bridges. , rehabilitated or reconstructed 794 railway bridges, and developed and modernized the signaling system at 137 stations.
He said that the plans of the current government to modernize the railway services include increasing railway capacity, rehabilitating railway lines and constructing new railway lines, solving the rolling stock crisis, establishing new railway links between Bangladesh and India, modernizing the signaling system, launching new trains, and railway digitalization. He said that 28 new future plans have been made.
