Continuous rainfall and hill runoff submerged the Chattogram to Cox’s Bazar railway line, knocking one of Bangladesh’s busiest routes out of service for five days. The flooding halted all trains on the route and forced Bangladesh Railway to refund thousands of advance tickets. The railway’s eastern zone has lost about BDT 8.8 million in revenue, with officials fearing further refunds will drive total losses past BDT 10 million.

The disruption extends beyond lost ticket sales to expose the Cox’s Bazar route’s chronic structural weaknesses, including rolling stock shortages, ageing infrastructure and severe waterlogging.

Railway eastern zone officials confirmed that services on the route ceased entirely between July 7 and 11. By July 14, passengers had filed 11,337 refund requests, prompting the railway to process BDT 8,785,344 through online and station counters. Authorities now expect additional claims.

Railway’s commercial officials noted that the shutdown had cost significant potential revenue from cancelled journeys and unsold tickets as long-distance passengers from Dhaka and other districts abandoned trips to the tourist destination.

Since its launch, the Chattogram–Cox’s Bazar line has become one of the country’s most heavily used, with tickets for most trains selling out well ahead of schedule during holidays and tourist seasons. Yet extreme weather regularly damages the tracks, leaving the railway with few fallback options except a complete shutdown that strands passengers and inflicts heavy financial losses. Officials warn that without durable infrastructure upgrades, adequate drainage and more rolling stock, the line will remain exposed to similar weather disruptions.

During the recent deluge, continuous rain submerged roughly 500 metres of track at Shamsherpara on the Sholoshohor–Dohazari section. While trains can operate with four to five inches of water above the tracks, depth there reached 24 inches, prompting the railway to halt all Cox’s Bazar-bound services on safety grounds. On July 12, the engineering department dumped additional stone ballast to raise the line by roughly 10 inches. Trains resumed that day at restricted speed under advance piloting before returning to normal operation.

The Parjatak Express and Cox’s Bazar Express from Dhaka terminated at Chattogram during the closure. The route’s Prabal and Saikat Express services also remained suspended for several days. The transport division said scheduled weekly off-days for some trains softened the operational blow, though the prolonged closure severely disrupted passenger service.

Mohammad Subaktagin, general manager of the railway’s eastern zone, told Bonik Barta: “Cox’s Bazar-bound trains were cancelled from July 7 to 11 because of adverse weather and excessive water flow on the track. The engineering department then inserted stones to raise the track by at least 10 inches, opening the route. Trains initially ran with advance piloting, but normal operations on both the Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar and Chattogram to Cox’s Bazar routes have now resumed. Passengers unable to travel were refunded for the cancelled period. Many made partial journeys instead of completing the full trip to or from Cox’s Bazar.”

The Dohazari to Cox’s Bazar line, opened in late 2023, was billed as one of the country’s most promising rail projects. The 100-kilometre corridor cost roughly BDT 115 billion to build and was designed for 31 pairs of trains a day. Two and a half years later, only four pairs operate — two from Dhaka and two from Chattogram. Sources said a shortage of locomotives and coaches remains the binding constraint, as slow procurement has left the railway unable to add services despite strong passenger demand.

Several railway officers, speaking anonymously to Bonik Barta, said the railway has poured vast sums into infrastructure over the past 15 years. Sluggish rolling stock imports have, however, prevented it from scaling up services on new lines. Nearly 800 trips a month are cancelled on various routes due to a lack of locomotives.

The Chattogram to Dohazari segment dates from the British period. Between 2018 and 2023, two rehabilitation programmes covering 47 kilometres cost nearly BDT 1.5 billion, yet trains still crawl at a maximum of 40 kilometres per hour against a planned 60 kilometres per hour. A replacement for the near-century-old Kalurghat rail bridge has yet to break ground, further capping the route’s capacity.

Bangladesh Railway runs more than 350 passenger trains daily and earns over BDT 1 billion a month from ticket sales. A five-day shutdown on a high-demand route represents a significant blow that exposes persistent deficits in the sustainable operation of one of the nation’s costliest rail projects.

Rail experts warn that climate change will bring more frequent torrential rain and flash flooding. Raising the track alone will not suffice, they said; without drainage-resilient infrastructure, adequate locomotives and coaches, and the replacement of ageing bridges, the Cox’s Bazar line faces repeated disruption that will compound passenger hardship and financial risk to public investment.