Coaches and wagons of Bangladesh

Coaches and wagons of Bangladesh are operated and maintained by Bangladesh Railway, the state owned rail transport agency of the country. At the end of the year 2004–2005, Bangladesh Railway had a total of 1406 coaches. Among them, 1344 were for conveyance of passengers and 62 were for conveyance of luggage, mails, parcels, departmental uses and so on. Bangladesh Railway also had 10236 wagons. Among them, 7310 are covered, 1115 are open and 1811 are special type wagons.[1]

Green coaches on Parabat Express
Some "bogie covered" (BC) wagons in Lalmonirhat Railway Station
Various kinds of broad-gauge coaches

In terms of gauge, there are meter-gauge (1000 mm) and 5 ft 6 in gauge (1676 mm; which is nationally known as broad-gauge) coaches and wagons in the country. There were also 2 ft 6 in gauge (762 mm; which is nationally known as narrow-gauge) coaches and wagons but non of them are active now because of the closure or conversion of all existing 5 ft 6 in gauge lines.

Accommodation classes

Saloon class

It is the most expensive class which is usually reserved for VIP/VVIP people. It is air-conditioned, features large windows on both sides and at the front and back for observation, has multiple cabins with luxurious facilities for sleeping with attached bathrooms.

Ac class

(Bengali: তাপানুকুল/tapanukul) It is the air conditioned class seen on most intercity trains with some other passenger trains too. It has three sub-classes:

Ac class berth

It is the most expensive class, which is only used during night for sleeping. It is air-conditioned. There are two types of cabin, single and double. 2 persons in single and 4 persons in double cabin can sleep. This class is seen in many intercity and a few mail/express trains.

Ac class seat

Similar to ac berth, but only used during day for seating. 3 (meter gauge) or 4 (broad gauge) persons can sit in single cabin and 6 (meter gauge) or 8 (broad gauge) persons can sit in double cabin.

Ac chair

Air-conditioned chair car. 2×2 (meter gauge) or 2×3 (broad gauge) seating system. Used on most intercity trains.

First class berth

Similar to ac berth, but not air-conditioned.

First class seat

Similar to ac seat, but not air-conditioned.

First class chair

There are two types of this class. First one is exactly similar to shovan chair, the second one is face-to-face seating with wider leg space, but the seats can not be leaned. This class is expensive than shovan chair and is very rare now.

Shovan sleeper

Somewhat similar to first berth, but there are no doors for the cabins. At present, this class is almost extinct, with many converted to shovan/shulov/second class general.

Non ac chair

Similar to ac chair, but not air-conditioned. Seen on almost all intercity trains.

Shovan/Shulov/second class general

There are two types of seating in shovan/shulov. First one is face-to-face 2×2 (meter gauge) or 2×3 (broad gauge) seating system. The seats are 90 degree angled. Another one is long bench-like seating parallel to the length of the coach, 2 seats on two sides, and sometimes an extra one at the middle. This type of seating is rare. This is the cheapest class (after third class). Used on all mail/express or local and a few intercity trains.

Third class

The cheapest class. Went out of service on August 1, 1989. Some were converted later to shovan/shulov/second class general.

Coaches

Bangladesh Railway imports passenger coaches from various countries over the time, along with some manufactured locally.

Iran

During the 1998, 67 meter-gauge coaches were added to the fleet of Bangladesh Railway. They were manufactured by Wagon Pars, an Iranian train and locomotive manufacturer. The underframe or bogie were of German technology. Initially they were used on some inter-city trains including Subarna Express, but at one point, they got ineligible to run anymore. The obsolete coaches were placed at the Pahartali railway workshop, and some of these coaches were repaired and used on some local trains.[2][3]

In 2017, initiative to reconstruct (rehabilitate) some of these coaches at Saidpur railway workshop was made. At first, 18 coaches were reconstructed on July 2017 with an average cost of 70 or 80 lakh (7 or 8 million) BDT. The newer reconstructed coaches feature comfortable seats, stainless steel instead of mild steel in the floor, floor mat, modern lights, alarm chain pulling controller, modern commode, cellphone and laptop charging system, and air brake. They are capable of going at a speed of 80 km/h. Among the 18 coaches, 12 were decided to use on Lalmoni Express, replacing its older coaches; and the rest would be kept reserved.[2][4][5]

China

In 2007, CRRC of China exported some white air braked meter-gauge coaches to Bangladesh. As of 2020, 2 trains have these coaches: Mohanagar Express and Kalni Express. In November 2020, contract was awarded to CRRC Sifang Company Ltd, a subsidiary of China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corporation to supply 200 meter gauge coaches with a total cost of 9.2751 billion BDT. The purchase is scheduled to be completed by June 30, 2020.[6][7][8]

Indonesia

In 2006, a contract was made with PT Inka for 50 broad-gauge coaches. They are white colored and have air brake. In March 2020, 5.62 billion BDT contract was awarded by Bangladesh Railway to PT INKA of Indonesia to supply 150 coaches. Among the 150 coaches, 100 are meter-gauge and 50 are broad-gauge.[9] Later, it was planned to import 100 more meter-gauge coaches.[8][10] They entered the railway service in Bangladesh for the first time on June 25, 2020 through the introduction of a new train, the Sonar Bangla Express which is the second non-stop intercity train of the country (after Subarna Express), and the eighth passenger train to run on the Dhaka–Chittagong route. These coaches are made by stainless steel, have air brake, are green colored with white and red stripes and the broad-gauge coaches have bio-toilet facility.[11]

Specifications of Indonesian broad-gauge green-red coaches[12]
Axle Load 12,800 kg
Maximum Speed   120 km/hr
Weight Approx. 37,000 - 44,000 kg
Material of Carbody   Stainless Steel
Bogie MD 53 M Licensed by Bombardier
Genset 2 x 250 kW, DEUTZ-AG, Germany
Brake System Automatic Air Brake, UIC Standard
Mechanical Coupler Chain and buffer, CBC
Inter Vehicular Coupler      Plug & Socket System
Material of Paint Polyurethene

As of 2020, total 22 trains have Indonesian coaches. Among them, 3 have white broad-gauge coaches: Rupsha Express, Sagordari Express, Simanta Express; 13 trains have green-red meter-gauge coaches: Jamalpur Express, Kishoreganj Express, Kurigram Express, Lalmoni Express, Mohanagar Provati/Godhuli Express, Mohanganj Express, Paharika Express, Parabat Express, Rangpur Express, Sonar Bangla Express, Subarna Express, Tista Express, Turna Express and Udayan Express; and 6 have green-red broad-gauge coaches: Benapole Express, Drutojan Express, Ekota Express, Kapotaksha Express, Nilsagor Express and Panchagarh Express.

India

On 2016, a contract of Rs 367 crore were made between Bangladesh Railway and RITES Ltd of Indian Railways and was executed on January 21, 2015 to supply 120 broad-gauge LHB coaches. The first consignment of 40 set was dispatched in March 2016. The export order of 120 LHB coaches include 17 ac sleeper, 17 ac chair, 34 non-ac chair car with pantry, 33 non-ac chair car with prayer room and 19 power car coaches. These coaches are made by stainless steel, have fiat bogies and are capable of running at 160 km/h speed.[13] They are manufactured at Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala.[14] As of 2020, 8 trains have these coaches: Banalata Express, Chitra Express, Dhumketu Express, Maitree Express, Padma Express, Silkcity Express, Sirajganj Express and Sundarban Express.

Korea

On July 29, 2020, a joint venture of Sung Shin Rolling Stock Technology Ltd and POSCO International signed a contract to supply 150 meter-gauge coaches to Bangladesh Railway. They are supposed to be delivered within 18 to 30 months from that date. Those coaches will feature air brake, stainless steel bodies, automatic doors and bio-toilets. For that project, 6.58 billion BDT order is being financed by Export–Import Bank of Korea.[15][16]

Other projects

In 2019, a decision to procure 500 coaches with 100 locomotives were made by the government of Bangladesh.[17] In 2020, a proposal to import 200 broad-gauge coaches were made by Bangladesh Railway. The cost of that project is 17.89 billion BDT. The completion of procurement of these coaches were set to June 2023.[18]

Wagons

Types
A container train at Akhaura Junction

Container

Bangladesh Railway decided to start container trains between Chittagong port yard (CGPY) and Dhaka. An Inland Container Depot (ICD) has been opened beside Kamalapur railway station, Dhaka with custom and port facilities for clearance of container traffic. Initially, special type Flat Wagons were made for container movement by converting some existing wagons. Later, 80 bogie container flats were procured from China and another 100 bogie container flats were procured from India. Exclusive container train was introduced on August 5, 1991.[1]

China

80 bogie container flats were procured from China for container trains.[1] A joint venture of China National Technical Import and Export Corp, Jiangsu Railteco Equipment Co and Jinxi Railway Vehicle Co has been awarded a 3.58 billion BDT contract to supply 50 broad gauge and 75 metre gauge vans to Bangladesh Railway. Deliveries are scheduled to begin within 20 months of the August 31, 2020 contract signing ceremony, with all of the vehicles to be commissioned within 27 months.[19]

Workshops

There are two workshops in Bangladesh for maintenance and repairing of coaches and wagons. First one is the C & W shop in Saidpur, Nilphamari which maintains both meter-gauge and broad-gauge coaches and wagons. The C & W workshop was constructed on 800 acres of land during 1870. The workshop has 25 different shops where railway coaches are repaired and almost 1200 types of machineries are being manufactured. In 1993, the then government stopped the initiative of manufacturing rail coaches.[20] An initiative was taken in 2019 to reconstruct the C & W shop of Saidpur to make it suitable for manufacturing coaches and wagons.[20]

The second workshop is the C & W shop in Pahartali, Chittagong which maintains only meter-gauge coaches and wagons.

See also

References
  1. "Rolling Stock and Railway Freey". 2011-08-30. Archived from the original on 2011-08-30. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
  2. "দেশে রেলওয়ে কোচ পুনর্নির্মাণে সাশ্রয় ৭৫ কোটি টাকা" [Reconstruction of railway coaches in the country saves Tk 75 crore]. Kaler Kantho (in Bengali). 2018-02-22. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  3. "নতুন সাজে লালমনি এক্সপ্রেস" [Newly decorated Lalmoni Express]. Daily Inqilab (in Bengali). 2018-06-05. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  4. "লালমনি এক্সপ্রেসের কোচ বানাচ্ছে সৈয়দপুর রেলওয়ে কারখানা" [Saidpur railway workshop is making coaches of Lalmoni Express]. Banglanews24.com (in Bengali). 2017-07-27. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  5. "নতুন সাজে 'লালমনি এক্সপ্রেস', ৬ জুন থেকে চলাচল শুরু" [Newly designed 'Lalmoni Express' will be operational from June 6]. Dhaka Tribune (in Bengali). 2018-06-04. Retrieved 2020-12-24.
  6. "BR to purchase 200 passenger coaches". Dhaka Tribune. 2019-10-28. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  7. "Government to procure 200 meter-gauge railway coaches from China". Business Standard. 2019-10-28. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  8. "Railway to get 200 new coaches". Daily Sun. 2018-11-05. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  9. "Bangladesh Railway introduces new coaches". International Railway Journal. 2016-06-28. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  10. "22 more rail coaches brought from Indonesia". Daily Bangladesh. 2020-09-27. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  11. "Bangladesh Rly set to introduce modern trains". The Independent. 2019-02-18. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  12. "Passenger Carriages for Bangladesh Railway". INKA. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  13. "RITES supplies 60 passenger coaches to Bangladesh Railway". Business Standard. 2016-06-30. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  14. "Railways to export 120 LHB coaches to Bangladesh, first consignment of 40 to be dispatched in March". The Economic Times. 2016-02-10. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  15. "Bangladesh Railway orders 150 coaches". Railway Gazette. 2020-07-30. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  16. "Govt to procure 150 metre-gauge coaches from South Korea". UNB. 2020-07-29. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  17. "500 coaches to join Bangladesh Railway". banglanews24.com. 2019-03-22. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  18. "Railway to procure 200 broad-gauge coaches". The Financial Express. 2019-10-19. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  19. "Bangladesh Railway orders 125 vans to increase capacity". Railway Gazette International. 2020-09-08. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  20. "BD to manufacture rail coaches, wagons". Bangladesh Post. 2019-06-24. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
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