The document is a report on Bangladesh Railway Infrastructure submitted to Dr. Rezai Karim Khondker of Independent University, Bangladesh by student Farabi Ahmed. It contains an introduction to Bangladesh Railway, its activities from 2006-2011, projected expenditures from 2013-2019, issues faced and recommendations. Bangladesh Railway has a network of over 2800 km but faces deficits as expenses are higher than revenues each year. The government is increasing investment in projects to modernize infrastructure and expand the network to improve services. Key issues include physical problems inherited from British rule, gauge differences, geographical constraints and managerial problems. Recommendations include further modernization, expanding services to new areas, addressing political unrest and improving managerial coordination.

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“BANGLADESH Railway Infrastructure”
Independent University, Bangladesh
Submitted to
Dr. Rezai Karim Khondker
Faculty of Macro Economics (MBA 510, Sec-02)
School of Business
Independent University, Bangladesh
Submitted by
Farabi Ahmed
ID: 121-121-8
Date of Submission: 29th March, 2015

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Letter of Transmittal
29th
March, 2015.
Dr. Rezai Karim Khondker
Macro Economics (MBA 510, Sec-02)
Faculty Member of School of Business,
Independent University Bangladesh.
Subject: A report on Bangladesh Railway Infrastructure.
Dear Sir,
With due respect, I would like to inform you that I have completed report on “Bangladesh
Railway Infrastructure”. It is immense pleasure for me because I have successfully completed
this report by receiving your continues guideline as a supervisor.
I have endeavored to prepare this report from my level of best to accumulate relevant &
insightful information. If I am included any wrong information in unconsciously so please
forgive me as your student. It is a great experience for me to make this report. I have tried to
make the report comprehensively within the schedule time & limited recourse.
You’re sincerely
………………………
Farabi Ahmed
ID: 121-121-8

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Table of Contents
Subject Page No
Introduction 4
Objective of the study 5
Overall activities of Bangladesh Railway from 06-11 5
Projected Expenditure by
Department/Agencies/Operational Units from 2013-
2019
8
Issues of Bangladesh Railway 8
Recommendation 9
Conclusion 9
References 10

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Introduction
Rail communication has traditionally been the main mode of mass transport for both
commercial and cargo usage dating back to the British rule. With wider connectivity and more
efficient technology, rail communication is considered to be environment-friendly, comfortable
and affordable in the densely populated country like Bangladesh, it is a very important form of
transport as it costs relatively lower among the different form of transport communication.
Bangladesh Railway has around 2877 kilometer of railway network which connects 44 District
and almost all the important places of the country and has a great contribution in accelerating the
economic activities. In the fiscal year 2012-13, around 44 investment and TA projects have been
implementing to make the rail network safe, easier and faster. Under these projects renovation of
existing railways, purchase of locomotives, wagons and new coaches and modernization of
signaling system is being going on. These types of infrastructure development will to ease traffic
congestion of the capital. It will also increase the quality of railway transportation. Ministry of
Railway is continuing its effort to maintain a safe and cost effective communication system
which will ultimately ensure a high economic growth and a balanced economic development of
the country. National and international connections such as Trans Asian Rail Network, SAARC
and other network will be established through these development activities. Bangladesh Railway
is performing all the activities including carrying of passengers and goods under the newly
established Ministry of Railways. Based on the allocation of business, the functions of the
Ministry include Policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation of policies relating to railways
and rail transport; development, expansion and maintenance of railway related systems;
Coordination of national and international railway systems; formulation and implementation of
security policies relating to railway transportation etc. Bangladesh Railway is continuing its
endeavor for the development of a modern, integrated, sustainable, safer and quality
communication system which leads to socio-economic development of the country. In the Sixth
Five Year Plan and Outline Perspective Plan of Bangladesh, priority has been put on the
development of the easy and safe rail infrastructure among all other transport communication to
ensure employment and poverty alleviation. For this reason, Ministry of Railways has selected
its own priority based on the policy and strategy documents which targets renovation and
modernization of rail infrastructure, easing the internal and international rail communication etc.

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Though gender related matters are not clearly mentioned in the documents such as National Rail
Transport Policy, citizen charters, Railway Master Plan, pro-women steps remain in the activities
of this Ministry.
Objective of the study
 Show the budget and analyze it.
 Show revenue and expensed over the years and analyze the deficit amount.
 Show infrastructure problem and give some recommendation based on it.
Overall activities of Bangladesh Railway from 06-11
Bangladesh Railway is one of the oldest service-oriented organizations which provides,
environment-friendly, less hazardous and less expensive transport services. BR has got a total
network of 2,835.04-route kilometer (Broad Gauge 659.33 km, Dual Gauge 374.83 km and
Meter Gauge-1,800.88 km). After the construction of railway tracks over the Bangabandhu
Bridge, railway link between East and West Zone has been established. The overall activities of
Bangladesh Railway from FY 2006-07 to FY2011-12 are presented in table1.
Table 1
Fiscal Year Revenues
earnings
(corer tk)
Revenue
expense
(corer tk)
2006-07 444.27 814.73
2007-08 452.76 933.13
2008-09 561.64 1088.55
2009-10 625.35 1172.74
2010-11 566.30 1257.20
2011-12 629.55 1305.40
(Source: mof.gov.bd/en/budget/13_14/ber/en/chapter-11_en.pdf, chapter 11 – transport and
communication)

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Analysis of data table 1:
If we look at table 1 then we can see the expenses are more than revenue every year so for this
the government has to make a huge budget on this sector like if we look at the table then we can
see there is minimum deficit of 400 corer taka in 2006-07, 500 corer tk in 2007-08, 500 corer tk
in 08-09, 500 corer tk in 09-10, 600 corer tk in 10-11 and near about 650 corer tk in 11-12. So
budget of BRM is increasing over the years.
Presentation of BRM revised budget and budget from 2012-14
Table 2
(Taka in thousands)
Financial Year Non-Dev Development Total Revenue Capital
2011-12 Revised
Budget
1624,84,59 2265,66,00 3890,50,59 1723,27,44 2167,23,15
2012-13 Revised
Budget
1681,00,00 3021,69,00 4702,69,00 1808,34,10 2894,34,90
2013-14 Budget 1802,78,00 3878,06,00 5680,84,00 2142,07,49 3538,76,51
(Source: www.mof.gov.bd/en/budget/13_14/cdg/en/51_railway_en.pd; Bangladesh Railway)
0
500
1000
1500
2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12
Revenue Expense trend of BRM over
the years
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12

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We have drawn the table based on table 2
Analysis of table 2
If we look at the table then we can say the revenue is lower than the capital so every year
government has to invest more and more. And the capital spending is increasing day by day
because the government is increasing the facilities and root of the railway.
In FY 2013-14, the following important activities/projects/programmers are scheduled to be
implemented:
 Procurement of BG Diesel Electric Locomotive;
 Rehabilitation of 200 MG and 60BG passenger coaches;
 Procurement of 11 MG Locomotives;
 Modernization of Syedpur Railway Workshop;
 Rehabilitation of Mymenshing-Jamalpur-Dewangong section line;
 Procurement of 220 MG Flat Boggy Wagon;
 Procurement of 89 MG Boggy Tank Wagon;
 Procurement of 165 BG Boggy Oil Tank Wagon;
 Procurement of 20 Set Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) for Bangladesh Railway;
 Procurement of 70 BG AC coach for Bangladesh Railway; and
 The Contraction of third and fourth dual gauge line with signaling in Dhaka-Tongi
Section and dual gauge double line in Tongi-Joydebpur Section etc.
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
Total Budget
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14

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Projected Expenditure by Department/Agencies/Operational Units from 2013-
2019
Table no 3 will show how the projected expenditure meet the actual budget in 2013 and 14 and
there will be some projection from 2015 – 2018
Table 3
(Taka in thousands)
Description Projection
2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18
Secretariat 230,93,00 2627,58,98 4930,55,01 5553,41,99
Railway
Operations
5803,89,00 4071,05,02 2504,95,99 2700,00,01
Grand
Total :
6034,82,00 6698,64,00 7435,51,00 8253,42,00
(Source: www.mof.gov.bd/.../MBF_51_Ministry%20of%20Railways_%20English... - Grant No –
46 51 - Ministry of Railways)
Analysis of table 3:
If we look at this table we can sat the projected expenditure of BRM is increasing day by day
because our government is want to improve the rail service and try to spread out this service all
over Bangladesh. The table is showing the increase of expenditure in core of taka.
Issues of Bangladesh Railway
Inherited physical problems: BR inherited a number of structural and physical weaknesses as a
part of its legacy, since it was not specially designed and constructed to serve Bangladesh.
Presently there are a number of missing links for direct through traffic.
Gauge problems: Bangladesh Railway has been suffering from various operating bottlenecks.
The railway system comprises two gauges, BG & MG, which involves transshipments of traffic
at the break of gauge points. Recently, Dual Gauge (DG) has been constructed in some important
sections to ease the problems.
Geographical constraints: Rail transportation is very much attractive for long distance
uninterrupted route network. But Bangladesh, a small county of only 1, 55,598 square
kilometers, is a land of rivers. Hundreds of rivers are flowing over the territory. Before
constructing JMB, the underdeveloped northern part of the country was truncated from eastern
part i.e. from the capital city of the country. Recently the through traffic has been plying over

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JMB although JMB Railway Project has not yet been completed for BG trains. Presently there is
no direct rail-route connection of the city to the Southern part of the country. Transshipments are
also involved at reverie points. Besides, during rainy season direct route links are often disrupted
in many points.
Managerial Problems: Bangladesh Railway management system is under experiment for a long
time. Till June 2, 1982, the management and development of railway was vested with a Railway
Board, comprising of a Chairman and four members. But, for administrative convenience and
operational reason the Railway Board was abolished with effect from June 3, 1982 and the
function of the Railway Board was vested with the Railway Division of the Ministry of
Communications with the Secretary of the Division working of as the Director General of
Bangladesh Railway. For the same purpose the Railway bifurcated into two zones, East & West,
under the administrative control of two General Managers (GMs), who are responsible/
accountable to the Director General (DG) of Bangladesh Railway. Subsequently on August 12,
1995, Railway was separated from the Ministry and entrusted with Director General drawn from
the Railway professionals. For policy guidance, a 9 (nine) member Bangladesh Railway
Authority (BRA) was formed with the Minster of Communications as its Chairman.
Recommendations
Modernization of railways: as we see in the table that the capital spending is increasing so
government should invest more to buy the modern equipment for railway and rail line like
foreign countries.
Increase service by capturing more location: BRM should invest more to establishing gauge
on the various location of Bangladesh. By doing this the revenue will be increase and service
will be increased.
Political Unrest: Political unrest is also a problem from BRM because if we see there are many
bogies got burned during the strikes or blockades. Political unrest could not include in Rail
traffic.
Managerial coordination: Managerial coordination is needed to work fast in the critical
situation so the power should be decentralized by the zonal heads because we can see many
problems in the special even like EID or PUJA.
Conclusion
Bangladesh Railway is continuing its endeavor for the development of a modern, integrated,
sustainable, safer and quality communication system which leads to socio-economic
development of the country. Bangladesh railway is a promising sector which can improve
people’s transportation and make the peoples life easier. So our government should concentrate
more on this ministry and make a systematic way to improve it day by day.

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References
Islam.S.M…Nasir.E, (May,2014), BANGLADESH RAILWAY MATERIALS CASE STUDY,
retrieved from: https://www.academia.edu/8326131/Railway_Materials_Case_Study
Chapter 11 – transport and communication, : mof.gov.bd/en/budget/13_14/ber/en/chapter-
11_en.pdff
Bangladesh Railway, www.mof.gov.bd/en/budget/13_14/cdg/en/51_railway_en.pd
Chapter 36 Ministry of Railways 1.0 Introduction,
www.mof.gov.bd/.../36%20Chapter%2039_51_Railway_English.pdf
Chapter - 27: Ministry of Railways,
www.mof.gov.bd/en/budget/14_15/.../26_51_Railway_English.pdf
51 - Ministry of Railways,
www.mof.gov.bd/.../MBF_51_Ministry%20of%20Railways_%20English... - Grant No – 46 51
Rahman.S.M, (Aug,2006), RE-ORIENTATION OF BANGLADESH RAILWAY:A MARKET
INTEGRATION STUDY(PDF)