Many homebound travellers prefer trains for Eid journeys due to comfort, affordability, and relative safety. However, despite the high demand, Bangladesh Railway struggles every year to handle the several-fold increase in passenger pressure during the Eid holiday period. Although such a surge in passenger demand occurs every Eid, the railway has yet to develop the capacity to manage it. For the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr, the authorities plan to cope with the additional pressure by adding extra coaches and selling standing tickets.
Bangladesh Railway issues around 150,000 tickets daily on average. Including tickets from intermediate stations and privately operated trains, the total does not exceed 200,000. However, passenger demand rises at least tenfold in the days immediately before and after Eid. To manage the pressure, railway authorities generally use additional trains and coaches every year, and this year will be no exception. However, several railway officials said many trains currently operate with fewer coaches than their standard composition. In many cases, the additional coaches will simply bring those trains up to the required standard composition, while some trains will receive more coaches than the standard number. Railway authorities plan to add extra coaches for Eid and allow the sale of standing tickets on each train this time, as they tackle the surge in the previous Eid holiday.
According to Bangladesh Railway sources, repair work on coaches begins at railway workshops at least three months ahead of Eid. At the Pahartali Workshop in Chattogram, an initiative was taken to repair 105 coaches of various trains ahead of Eid. As of March 3, 82 of these coaches had been handed over to the operating division. Mechanical authorities said they have the capacity to repair no more than three coaches a day.
Similarly, the Western Zone Railway has undertaken repairs of 100 coaches to address the shortage during this year’s Eid travel season. These include 54 broad-gauge and 46 metre-gauge coaches. Since ticket demand peaks during the three days before and after Eid, the Western Zone plans to add these coaches during that period to ensure trains operate with their standard composition.
Recently, uncertainty over fuel supplies has emerged across the country following conflicts in the Middle East. Bus operators have been accused of suspending advance ticket sales and refunding previously sold tickets, citing fuel shortages. Anticipating possible disruptions in bus travel during Eid, railway authorities have decided to add extra coaches to key trains in the eastern zone.
Sources said the highest number of additional coaches will be attached to the non-stop Subarna Express and Sonar Bangla Express on the Dhaka–Chattogram route. Extra coaches will also be added to Turna Express, Mahanagar Godhuli Express, and Mohanagar Express on the same route; Paharika Express and Udayan Express on the Chattogram–Sylhet route; Bijoy Express on the Chattogram–Mymensingh route; Meghna Express on the Chattogram–Chandpur route; and Parjotak Express and Cox’s Bazar Express on the Dhaka–Chattogram–Cox’s Bazar route. Depending on the train, between one and three additional coaches will be attached for Eid travel. These extra coaches, beyond the standard composition, will operate on trains between March 16 and 28 to carry additional passengers.
Mohammad Shafiqur Rahman, chief operating officer of the Eastern Zone of Bangladesh Railway, told Bonik Barta, “Ahead of Eid every year, our goal is to operate trains according to their standard composition. This time, in addition to the scheduled coaches, extra coaches are being added to almost all trains. At the same time, newly imported coaches are being used to form new rakes, while the replaced rakes are being assigned to several older intercity trains.” He said these measures would allow passengers to travel more comfortably during the upcoming Eid compared with previous years.
According to sources in the railway’s mechanical engineering department, the Eastern Zone requires 119 locomotives (engines) daily. However, the mechanical division can supply no more than 70–75 engines. Over the past week, only 70–72 locomotives have been available. As a result, the railway has been operating return services with connecting engines, delaying train schedules, and even cancelling less important trains each day to manage operations.
The locomotive crisis has recently become so severe that, on average, eight to ten engines break down either at the start of a journey or while en route every day. To ensure uninterrupted Eid travel, the transportation department has proposed supplying an additional 10–12 locomotives alongside regular allocations. However, railway authorities said there is no risk of such shortages in the Western Zone during the upcoming Eid, as it has sufficient locomotives.
Farid Ahmed, general manager of the Western Zone Railway, told Bonik Barta, “Passengers are most interested in rail travel during Eid. As in previous years, around 100 coaches are being repaired. Although efforts are being made to add extra coaches, the priority now is to operate trains according to regular rake composition, as there has already been a shortfall in the standard composition.” He added that the railway is giving priority to reducing schedule disruptions, ensuring passenger safety, preventing accidents, and improving service quality.
Mostafa Zakir Hasan, divisional superintendent of the Pahartali Workshop in Chattogram, told Bonik Barta, “Ahead of Eid, we’re repairing coaches according to the demand of the transportation and commercial departments, as in previous years. A target has been set to repair around 105 coaches.”
He said repairing more coaches is not possible due to a shortage of manpower compared with the requirements.
Sources said hundreds of railway coaches remain out of service at workshops but cannot be repaired due to shortages of manpower and necessary spare parts. Currently, the Pahartali Workshop can repair an average of only two coaches per day. Although the approved workforce for the workshop is 2,255, only 710 staff members are currently working. To cope with the shortage, 150 temporary workers have been engaged in coach repair activities.
When asked about the lack of progress in repairing the large number of damaged coaches and engines, Sadequr Rahman, chief mechanical engineer of the Eastern Zone Railway, told Bonik Barta, “Various constraints make it difficult to repair sufficient coaches and engines. Nevertheless, special initiatives have been taken ahead of Eid to repair them. As in previous years, efforts are underway to add more than 100 coaches to meet passenger demand during the Eid travel season. At the same time, there are attempts to supply an additional 10–12 locomotives to the crisis-ridden fleet before Eid.
Sources said that alongside ensuring regular rake composition, the railway will primarily handle the additional passenger pressure by cancelling weekly off-days of several trains and suspending some second-class services to operate special trains before Eid. In addition, standing tickets will be sold on all trains in the days leading up to Eid to accommodate extra passengers. As a result, passengers travelling with regular seat tickets may face inconvenience during the Eid travel period.
Officials from the railway’s transportation department said that although ticket demand multiplies during Eid, there is no adequate support from the mechanical division. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior official from the transportation department told Bonik Barta that the railway already operates trains with shortages. When a coach becomes defective, it often remains stuck in workshops for days awaiting repairs. Although each train is supposed to have spare coaches equivalent to 25 percent of its composition, this rule is rarely followed. He added that while additional coaches are announced every year for Eid, in reality, the railway mostly redistributes existing coaches to manage the shortage.