United News of Bangladesh

A woman and ‘her’ two young children were killed on Monday after being hit by a passenger train in Gazipur district. The accident occurred around 10:30 am at Pubail Bazar-level crossing in Pubail area when an Akhaura-bound Titas commuter train hit the woman and the children, killing them on the spot, witnesses and railway officials said. The woman was identified as Hafeza Khatun Mala, daughter of Mozammel Haque of Kaliganj upazila in Gazipur district. The identities of the two minors, believed to be her children and aged about five to six, could not be immediately confirmed. Md Musa, stationmaster at Pubail Railway Station, said initial indications suggested the woman jumped in front of the train along with her children. Authorities, however, said the circumstances surrounding the deaths were still under investigation. Muggers loot Tk 24 lakh firing shots, exploding crude bombs in Gazipur Local residents later recovered a voter identification card from a bag believed to belong to the woman, police said. No further details were immediately available, and officials said the motive behind the incident remained unclear.

For generations, Amnura railway junction has connected people, markets and livelihoods across Chapainawabganj and now this station stands worn and overlooked. Established in 1909 as part of the Abdulpur–Malda railway line, the once-busy junction has gradually lost its significance. The passenger shed at the station was declared abandoned around one and a half decades ago. Since then, travelers have been forced to wait for trains under the open sky, exposed to scorching heat, rain and cold. Jujube cultivation brings new prosperity to Cumilla’s Shikarpur village The station area lacks even the most basic facilities, including safe drinking water, toilets and proper seating arrangements.

With Eid-ul-Azha approaching, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has launched a nationwide operation to tackle black market ticket sales, financial irregularities and passenger harassment at railway stations. Beginning at 11:30 am on May 28, the ACC initiated a coordinated crackdown at eight key stations, including Kamalapur in Dhaka. Md Akhtarul Islam, Deputy Director of Public Relations at the ACC, confirmed the move, saying the drive aims to bring an end to the illicit sale of train tickets.  Special teams have been deployed to Kamalapur (Dhaka), Chattogram, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Sylhet and Dinajpur stations. Online Rush for Tickets The surge in demand for tickets has been intense. On May 26, when tickets for  June 5 were released for western-bound trains, the railway’s ticketing website saw 29.7 million hits within just 30 minutes.  On the previous day, when tickets for eastern-bound intercity trains went on sale, the site received 19.4 million hits during the same period.  Earlier that morning, sales for the western-bound trains also recorded 27.6 million hits. According to Bangladesh Railway, 33,924 tickets were issued for trains departing on June 5: 16,576 for 24 eastern-bound trains and 17,348 for 21 western-bound trains. By 8:30 am, 14,581 of these had already been sold. On June 4, 34,020 tickets were allocated: 16,576 for eastern routes and 17,444 for western destinations.  By 2:30 pm, 31,547 had been sold.  Train Ticket Black Market: ACC cracks down across major stations Across the Eid season, a total of 183,665 tickets have been allocated, with 62,258 sold as of Sunday afternoon. From Dhaka alone, intercity trains offer a total of 33,315 seats.  A further 47,000 tickets have been made available for commuter, mail, and local services, covering 23 eastern and 20 northern trains. Questions Over Speed of Sales Dr Md Mesbahuddin Sarkar, Professor at the Institute of Information Technology, Jahangirnagar University, raised questions about the speed of ticket sales. “We’ve heard of thousands of tickets being sold within two minutes.  For that to be possible, an extremely high-speed server would be required -- something that’s questionable given our local infrastructure,” he said.  He also pointed out that allegations of black-market activity have long surrounded holiday ticket sales. ICT experts echoed his concerns, questioning whether local servers can support such rapid processing.  Online train tickets vanish in a blink as expert weighs in on black market fiasco Kamalapur Station Manager Sajedul Islam said, according to online platform shohoj.com, their system is capable of handling 30,000 ticket sales every five minutes. “No matter how many hits the site gets, there’s a fixed number of seats — around 43,000 including standing tickets,” said Sajedul.  “Hits don’t guarantee tickets," he added.  When asked about the possibility of black-market activity, he said, “I joined on 30 April. Since then, I haven’t encountered any complaints or caught anyone involved in illegal ticket sales. We are monitoring the situation regularly.” Public concern over ticket availability continues to grow as Eid travel demand peaks, with authorities now under pressure to ensure transparency and fairness in the distribution system.

Two locomotives were derailed within a span of seven hours and a 15-kilometer radius in Lalpur upazila of Natore district on Saturday.Abdulpur Station Master Ziauddin said the locomotive of inter-city ‘Panchagarh Express’ veered off the tracks around 4:00am on Saturday while heading towards Panchagarh in Angaripara area of Lalpur.A rescue train from Ishwardi arrived there around 6:00am and placed the engine back on the track, resuming the train movement toward its destination. Fire halts Dhaka-Mymensingh train services as bogie burns in GazipurEarlier, around 10:30pm on Friday night, the engine of Rajshahi Express which had departed from Ishwardi for Rajshahi, derailed near the Bawra Bridge area in the same upazila.Train movement on the up line was suspended while down line operations continued.The derailed locomotive was removed by a rescue train at around 1:00pm on Saturday.

Bangladesh Railways will launch a pair of commuter trains on the Dhaka-Narsingdi-Bhairab Bazar-Dhaka route from March 26. Railway Affairs Adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan will inaugurate the commuter trains at Kamalapur Rail Station in Dhaka by welcoming the Narsingdi Commuter-1 from Bhairab Bazar. The Narsingdi Commuter-1 train will leave Bhairab Bazar around 6:45 am to reach at Kamalapur Station around 9:05 am. It will make stopover in Doulatkandi, Methikanda, Narsingdi, Arikhola, Tongi, Dhaka Airport and Tejgaon Station. On the other hand, the Narsingdi Commuter-4 train will leave the Kamalapur Rail Station around 6:30 pm and will reach Bhairab Bazar around 9:01 pm. It will also make stopover in Tejgaon, Dhaka Airport, Tngi, Pubail, Arikhola and Methikanda. At the same time, the rakes of Narayanganj commuter train will be replaced by 11 coaches upgraded on March 26 to facilitate the smooth travel of the passengers. As a result, the existing eight pairs of commuter train coaches will be replaced by new coaches. During the inauguration of four commuter trains on Dhaka-Joydebpur-Dhaka route, the adviser announced that the commuter trains will be inaugurated between Narsingdi and Narayanganj on March 26 on the National Independence Day. In continuation of this, new commuter trains are being added to the railway fleet on these two routes.        

A woman and her eight-month-old baby died as the mother with the child on lap jumped in front of a moving  train on Dhaka-Mymensingh route at Satkhamair in Sreepur upazila of Gazipur district on Monday. The identities of the woman, aged about 30, and her daughter could not be known immediately. Setabur Rahman, sub-inspector of Joydebpur Rail Station, said the woman along with her baby jumped in front of the train around 10:30 am. Bogie of freight train details at Dhaka’s Azampur Later they were taken to Sreepur Upazila Health Complex in critical condition where doctors referred them to Mymensingh Medical College and Hospital. They died on the way to the Mymensingh hospital. Police suspected that the woman might have killed herself and her baby over a family feud.  

Commuter trains will run on short distances from tomorrow (July 25, 2024), Additional Director General of Bangladesh Railway Md Arifuzzaman said on Wednesday. “One or two commuter trains will operate from tomorrow on short distance routes. It will take time to resume operation of inter-city trains once the current situation improves,” he told UNB. Besides, network disruption also causes delay of train services as tickets are available online, he added. Read more: AP report: Bangladesh moves back to normalcy after violent clashes that killed nearly 200 people Under the circumstances, commuter trains will operate on the Dhaka-Narayanganj and Ishwardi routes while the authorities will try their level best to resume commuter trains on Dhaka-Joydebpur route, he said. The Burimari commuter train will operate from Lalmonirhat district, said the additional DG. He also said that freight trains or oil-carrying trains were operating since Monday.

Train communication on the 138.64 km Benapole-Mongla route began operations today (June 01, 2024), carrying 500 passengers on its inaugural journey. Saidur Rahman, Benapole Rail Station Master, reported that the commuter train departed for Mongla port at around 10 am, reaching Mongla via Khulna's Phultala at approximately 12:50 pm. Train services on Benapole-Mongla route set to start from June 1 The commuter train will operate daily, except on Tuesdays, according to Asim Kumar Talukdar, General Manager of the Railway Western Zone. The route includes stopovers at Navaron, Jhikargacha, Jashore Junction, Rupdia, Singia, Chengutia, Noapara, Bejerdanga, Phultala, Aronghata, Mohammadnagar, Katakhali, Chulkati Bazar, Bhaga, and Digraj stations. Train derailment in Bogura: Communication resumes after 2 hrs The new service follows a trial run that began on November 1, when a train was operated on the 138.64 km Khulna-Mongla rail tracks. After seven months of testing, the train service is now officially launched.

Starting in July, residents of Chuadanga district will have direct train access to Dhaka, reducing travel time to just five hours. The Bangladesh Railway is resuming direct rail service on the Dhaka-Darshana route, this time via the Padma Bridge, a move anticipated to greatly benefit commuters. A media release from the Railway’s Western region announced that a pair of trains will run on this route. The first train will depart Darshana for Dhaka around 7 am, arriving at noon. It will then leave Dhaka at 1 pm, reaching Darshana by 4 pm. The second train will operate from 4:30 pm to 9:40 pm and from 11:55 pm to 5 am the following morning. In addition, three trains—Chitra, Benapole, and Sundarban Express—will operate from Jashore's Rupdia or Padmabila to Dhaka via Kushtia, Mobarakganj, and Kotchandpur through the Padma Bridge. Passengers disembarking from moving trains raises safety concerns Currently, Bangladesh Railway operates local, mail, commuter, and intercity trains. Fares range from Tk 0.39 per km for local trains to Tk 1.95 per km for air-conditioned intercity trains. Abdullah Al Mamun, a Dhaka-bound passenger at Chuadanga Rail Station, expressed optimism: “The train line is divided into two parts. If these two trains start, we will benefit from the passenger-tickets, and hopefully, we will get tickets on time. Besides, it will take less time to go to Dhaka.”

The sale of advance train tickets for Eid holidaymakers will start online from June 2. The commuters have to purchase their tickets online and though mobile apps, said Director General of Bangladesh Railway Sardar Sahadat Ali while speaking at a press briefing held at the conference room of the Rail Bhaban over railways’ preparation on the occasion of Eid on Tuesday. The ticket for June 12 will be available on June 2, for June 13 on June 3, June 14 on June 4 and the tickets for June 15 and 16 will be available on June 5 and June 6 respectively. Read more: How to Buy Plane, Bus, and Train Tickets Online in Bangladesh Those sale of tickets will start at 8 am for western region and at 2 pm for the eastern region of the country, he said. Railway Minister Zillul Hakim, deputy secretary Toufique Imam and Additional Director General of Bangladesh Railway Md Arifuzzaman were present there.