Regional Meeting on Harmonization of Rules and Regulations for Facilitation

of International Railway Transport, Ankara, Turkey, 3-4 May 2018

Country Position PaperBANGLADESH

Md. MiajahanAdditional Director General(Operation),

Bangladesh Railway, Rail Bhaban, Dhaka.

Presentation SequenceBrief of Bangladesh Railway

Operational InformationVision, Historic Land Mark, Major

Regional Connectivity Related to Bangladesh TAR, SAARC, SASEC, BIMSTEC, BCIM, SILK ROUTE Opportunities of Bangladesh to be Transport Hub

Major Initiatives for Regional ConnectivityImpediments and InitiativesProgress, Issued to be Addressed for Connectivity

1862: Started its journey as Eastern Bengal Railway with 53.11 km Jagoti-

Darsana BG Rail link.

1947 : India and Pakistan seperated

1947: Started East Pakistan Railway

1961: Renamed as Pakistan Eastern Railway.

1972: Started providing services as Bangladesh Railway.

1998: East-West Railway connectivity over river Jamuna was established

from the day of opening Bangabandhu Bridge.

2003: Direct BG train communication between East and West zone was

established over Bangabandhu Bridge.

2007: Bangladesh signed TAR agreement.

2008: Passenger train “Maitree Express” between Dhaka and Kolkata

Started Operation.

2011: Ministry of Railways formed under SRO-361.

Covers and connects 44 Districts of the country out of 64 Districts.

2015-2016: 71 mi Passengers and 2.55 mi tonnes freight carried by BR

Brief about Bangladesh Railway

Total Route KM2877.10 km

MG: 1808.05 km

BG: 659.33 km

DG: 409.72 km

East Zone: 1308.27 km

West Zone: 1568.83 km

Operational Division: 4

Dhaka

Chittagong

Paksey

Lalmonirhat

On 23 June 1998: The first

revolutionary development in

BR was to connect east and west zone by rail

link through Bangabandhu

Bridge.

Historic Land Mark

VisionTo expand and improve the railway system to provide safer, better, a more environment friendly and cost effective transport facility to the national and international traffic. Foster international rail links to serve regional/sub-regional connectivity and Trans Asian Railway.(perspective plan)To play an important and dominant role in an integrated transport system by emphasis its strength.( BR Master Plan)

Strategy to Achieve the Vision

Gauge conversion and maintenance enhancement-Regional IntegrationUnlocking line capacity-Signal and TelecomNew Rail line constructionRolling stock procurement and maintenance enhancement To increase market share

Regional Connectivity Relating to Bangladesh Railway

TAR Network

SAARC Route

SASEC Corridors

BIMSTEC

BCIM Route

Silk Route

ASEAN

Regional Transport Connectivity in South

& South East Asia

There are 9 (Nine) Cross Border points between India and Bangladesh, namely

1. Darshana (BR)-Gede(IR) are in operation 2. Benepole(BR)-Petrapole(IR) are in operation 3. Rahonpur(BR)-Singabad (IR) are in operation 4. Birol(BR)-Radhikapur (IR) are in operation5. Shahbazpur(BR)-Mohishashan (IR) are Re- Linking6. Chilahati(BR)-Holdibari(IR) are closed since 1965 7. Burimari(BR)-Chenrabandha (IR) are closed since 1971

8 . Akhaura(BR)-Agartala(IR)- new Railway link Under Construction..

9.Feni-Belonia - Under study for Re-Linking

INDIAN & MYANMAR RAILWAYS CONNECTIVITY WITH BANGLADESH

Existing Connectivity with India:•Benapole – Petrapole

•Darsana – Gede

•Rohanpur – Singhabad

•Birol – Radhikapur

Closed Connectivity (work is going on to

restore the connectivity) :

•Shahbazpur – Mohishasan (since 07-07-02)

Proposed new Connectivity:

•Chilahati – Holdibari

•Burimari – Chengrabandha

•Akhaura - Agartala

•Dohazari – Cox’s Bazar - Gundum

Connectivity with Nepal & India:

•Rohanpur – Singhabad (by addendum to

MOU).

•Birol – Radhikapur

Connectivity with Bhutan & India:

•Chilahati – Holdibari (by constructing 7 km

missing link in Bangladesh side and signing a

new MOU).

•Burimari – Chengrabandha (transshipment

facilities at Burimari and signing a new MOU).

Trans-Asian Railway network and Bangladesh

BirolTAR-3

Radhikapur (India)

Mohishasan(India)

Myanmar

Shahbazpur

TAR-2Singabad

(India)

Dhaka

Ishurdi

Abdulpur

RohanpurTAR ROUTE – 1 :Gede (West Bengal, India) – Darsana –Ishurdi – Jamtoil – Joydebpur – Tongi –Akhaura – Chittagong – Dohazari –Gundum – (Mynmar border station).Sub-route – I : Tongi – Dhaka.Sub-route – II : Akhaura – Kulaura –Shahbazpur – Mahisasan (India)

TAR ROUTE – 2 :Singabad (West Bengal, India) –Rohanpur – Rajshahi – Abdulpur – Ishurdiand thereafter following the rest of the route/sub-routes of Route – I.

TAR ROUTE – 3 :Radhikapur (West Bengal, India) – Birol –Dinajpur – Parbatipur – Abdulpur –Ishurdi and thereafter following the rest of the route/sub-routes of Route – I.

TAR-1Gede(India)

Ramu

Dinazpur

Parbatipur

Kulaura

Darsana

TAR-4

Tongi

Akhaura

Chittagong

Gundum

Dohazari

Jessore

KHULNA

Benapole

Bhanga

Government’s Strategic Position to Facilitate Regional Rail Transportation

•Adopting a master plan to be developed Railways in phases • Prioritize physical infrastructure development of

Main Rail corridor • Closing the infrastructure gaps and up gradation

of others Rail Corridor

• Address Rail transport facilitation bottlenecks• Regional transit agreements to enable cross

border movements of Passenger & Freight.

Government’s Strategic Position on establishing TAR

Metre Gauge Track Dual Gauge Track

Metre Gauge TrackDual Gauge Track

Bangladesh Railway’s Future ProjectsStep Toward Development

PHASE NO OF PROJECTS

PROJECT VALUE MUSD

REMARKS

COMPLETED PROJECTSPhase-1: 2010-2015 (Existing MP)

25 513.97

ONGOING PROJECTSPhase-1: 2016-2020 (Existing MP)

36 1644.23 Investment Project-36

TA projects-07 (24.81)

Phase-I: 2016-2020 76 18696.12 ➢ 20 Nosgauge conversion projects

➢ 39 Nos RS Relatedprojects

Phase-II: 2021-2025 63 14946.62

Phase-III: 2026-2030 30 10744.50

Phase-IV: 2031-2035 22 12068.85

Phase-V: 2036-2040 12 10300.75

Phase-VI: 2041-2045 4 1365.00

Maitree Express Dhaka- Kolkata14-April 2008

Bandan ExpressKhulna- Kolkata9 Nov.2017

Passenger Train Between Bangladesh and India

GOODS TRAIN FROM INDIA

FIRST CONTAINER TRAIN FROM INDIA

3-4 APRIL 2018

Management Level Meeting Between BR & IR

Historical Origin of the International Freight Train Operation

between Bangladesh and Indian Railway :• In the regime British India different railways started being constructed having common junctions with each other, • For Train Operation and Interchanging Rolling stock an Indian Conference Association was formed in 1879

• One of its major functions on going over Inter-Railway movement between Bangladesh and Indian Railway.

With regard to the clearance of traffic from One railway to Another, two important issues arose :-

(i) Whether wagons loaded with foreign railway traffic should be permitted to go to the adjoining Railways . If permitted to go how it should be returned to the Owning railways.

(ii) Should the Railway supply its own wagons or should each railway supply its own stock to load commodity to areas served by that railway.

Till now each railway managed with its own wagons to the extent possible and even when a loaded wagon was exchange to another railway, it will be returned, loaded or empty, by the same route by which it was received .

Carriage & wagon Interchange Control:With regard to the maintenance question , it was decided tohave carriage and wagon Interchange control at theInterchange Junctions/ points and a certain standard ofExamination of stock laid down at these junctions/ points.The defects found on wagons are classified into two type:

(i) Penalty Item(ii) Reject- able Items.

Whenever a defect classified as a Penalty item is found adebit is raised the railway handing over the wagon.

A Reject-able defect renders the wagon to be rejected atinterchange point till the defect is repaired and thewagon offered again.

Cross Border or Interchange Instructions:

In order that each Railway’s wagon holdings do not get unbalanced by inter- railway movement of traffic it is necessary that in the overall transactions between adjacent railways, the railway does not gain or lose in wagons. This could be done by arranging strict equalization at each junction but traffic requirements demand that there should be greater flexibility in the matter.

Record of Cross Border or Interchange Transaction :

To maintain record of movement of wagons interchanged atinterchange junctions/points , junction verifiers(TXR) are posted at thejunction who are drawn from number taking staff. These junctionverifiers issue a report/message every day giving the Interchangetransactions between individual railways from midnight to midnight.In giving the total number of wagons handed over by each railway, thebreakdown into loaded & Empties and covered and Open is given.

Vehicle Movement Record:Besides the Interchange message, the junction verifiers also maintain daily statement of individual number and type of wagons Interchanged.

Towards this aim, Both IR & BR has to –(i) keep an intensive watch over the working of marshalling and

terminal yards;(ii) Supervise the ordering and working of goods trains;(iii) Maintain an effective control on the utilization and movement of

goods locos from the time it leaves the home shed till it arrives back to the home shed;

(iv) Arrange for equitable distribution and economics utilization of empties;

(v) Watch the detention to wagons in marshalling yards, terminal depots, stations and transshipment points.

Cross Border Formalities of Railways & Custom :Railway station Authority :•Received Railway Receipt ( RR)• Received Packing list• Received Vehicle Guidance•After receiving all documents station authority made manifest by individual wagon no. and submit to Custom authority for Clearance.

Custom Authority :•Collect Bill of entry• Invoice• Packing List• cargo manifest from station authority• After necessary checking Custom Authority Give clearance. Getting clearance from custom, Station AuthorityRebooking the cargo to destination or Release the cargo.

Key Challenges for Harmonization of Rules & Regulation in Cross Border Railway Transport

i) Perceptions of unequal benefit from Rail connectivity.

ii) Political interest groups- eg : Negative reactions

iii) Social issues and associated criminal activities- eg : Illegal

migration, human & drug trafficking are trans boundary problems

that could be aggravated by greater connectivity.

iv) Security issues- eg : border issue, communal violence, religious

extremism etc. Play signified role in the political rhetoric.

v) Perception of unequal benefit and uneven development.

vi) Gaps in the stages at intra-regional economic integration

under the different regional arrangements.

vii) Sensitive sectors and economic adjustments.

The way forward : Closing coordination gaps and long runobstacles from Cross-Regional Transport and Cooperation.i) Strengthen links between GMS, SASEC , ASEAN and

BIMSTEC.ii) Align national priorities with regional/bilateral

undertakings.iii) Dovetail physical and institutional connectivity needs.iv) Support Myanmar’s economic reform, especially in border

areas.v) Consider the feasibility of a common loan/funding

mechanism for connectivity related projects.Vi) There should be an agreement among the signatories toeliminate the restrictions of movement of trains in theterritory of member countries.

Thanks to All