18 Rail Coaches Imported from India Arrive at Saidpur Railway Workshop

Eighteen rail coaches imported from India arrived at the Saidpur Railway Workshop at around 4:00am on Saturday, October 17. Workshop authorities said plans were in place to arrange locomotives, crew members, a tool van and other necessary equipment to complete the required deprocessing, commissioning and trial runs.

According to railway sources, the coaches were procured through India’s RITES Limited as part of Bangladesh Railway’s plan to expand its fleet. The first shipment of 18 coaches, comprising four types, was delivered under an agreement between Bangladesh and India for the supply of 200 broad-gauge coaches.

The shipment includes 11 non-air-conditioned Shovon Chair coaches, three air-conditioned chair coaches, two air-conditioned sleeper coaches and two air-conditioned power cars. The power cars have separate compartments for guards and space for carrying passengers’ luggage. The coaches were manufactured at the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, Punjab, India.

Sheikh Robayetur Rahman, former general secretary of the Saidpur Railway Workshop branch of the Railway Workers’ Union, said the coaches should be added to the railway fleet quickly after inspection and testing to help ease the shortage of coaches. He also called for the launch of an intercity train on the Chilahati-Cox’s Bazar tourist route using these coaches.

Shah Sufi Nur Mohammad, divisional superintendent of the Saidpur Railway Workshop, said, “These coaches brought to the railway workshop have not yet been unpacked. Indian experts will work alongside railway workshop workers, employees and officials to inspect and test the coaches. After mechanical inspections and trial runs at the Saidpur Railway Workshop, the coaches will be handed over to the Traffic Department.”