No accident occurred due to railway signal system error: Minister

No accident has occurred so far due to signal system error of  Bangladesh Railway, Railways Minister Md Zillul Hakim said today (27 June).

The minister made the claim while replying to a tabled question of ruling party MP elected from Chattogram M Abdul Latif in Parliament.

He said various projects are underway to convert the entire railway into double lines, establish railway connections in all districts of the country, modernise the signalling system of the railway and procure high quality engines and coaches.

He said that the implementation of Automatic Train Stop/Protection (ATS/ATP) technology is underway to automatically stop trains in any emergency to avoid accidents.

In response to the question of ruling party MP elected from Natore Shafiqul Islam Shimul, the Railways Minister said that there are 1,679,83 km of metre gauge and, 8,79,85 km of broad gauge and 5,33,70 dual gauge railway lines out of 3,93,38 km of railway lines in the country.

He said that there is a master plan for Bangladesh Railway which is planned to be implemented from 2016 to 2045.

According to that master plan, the process of converting the railway line to the same gauge (Unigauge) has been undertaken by prioritising the matter of connecting the Trans Asian Railway Network.

Under this programme all metre gauge lines will be converted to dual gauge ones in the initial phase and later converted to broad gauge.

The master plan envisages implementation of 18 projects in this regard which are expected to be completed by 2045 subject to receipt of adequate funding.