Hundreds of thousands of passengers travel by buses with high fares finding no other alternative means to travel. The private bus owners take advantage of this difficulty of the passengers and fix high fares.
The government has increased train fares to 7.23 per cent last February.
The increased fare is still less than bus fare. Considering that Bangladesh Railway (BR) was operating at a huge loss and as bus fare is much higher than train fare, the rise in fare is rational. Train travel is much safer than travelling by road.
A lot of people prefer to travel by train. Many passengers cannot avail train service as air-conditioned and first class seats are very limited compared to their demand. They have to travel by luxury buses at very high fares.
After more than four decades the present government has taken up a plan to expand and upgrade train services.
More driving engine, passenger bogies and goods coaches are under import.
The Bangladesh Railway is a losing concern. It cannot provide efficient service incurring loss for years together.
It is high time the authority concerned imported adequate number of air-conditioned and first class passenger compartments.
It will reduce dependence on risky bus travel and increase income of Bangladesh Railway, reduce its losses and improve service quality.
Mohammad Ashraf Hossain
120, Central Bashabo, Dhaka-1214.
