Regional Meeting on Harmonization of Rules and Regulations for Facilitation of International Railway Transport, Ankara, Turkey, 3-4 May 2018

Transcription

1 Regional Meeting on Harmonization of Rules and Regulations for Facilitation of International Railway Transport, Ankara, Turkey, 3-4 May 2018

2 Country Position Paper BANGLADESH Md. Miajahan Additional Director General(Operation), Bangladesh Railway, Rail Bhaban, Dhaka.

3 Presentation Sequence Brief of Bangladesh Railway Operational Information Vision, Historic Land Mark, Major Regional Connectivity Related to Bangladesh TAR, SAARC, SASEC, BIMSTEC, BCIM, SILK ROUTE Opportunities of Bangladesh to be Transport Hub Major Initiatives for Regional Connectivity Impediments and Initiatives Progress, Issued to be Addressed for Connectivity

4 Brief about Bangladesh Railway 1862: Started its journey as Eastern Bengal Railway with km Jagoti- Darsana BG Rail link : India and Pakistan seperated 1947: Started East Pakistan Railway 1961: Renamed as Pakistan Eastern Railway. 1972: Started providing services as Bangladesh Railway. 1998: East-West Railway connectivity over river Jamuna was established from the day of opening Bangabandhu Bridge. 2003: Direct BG train communication between East and West zone was established over Bangabandhu Bridge. 2007: Bangladesh signed TAR agreement. 2008: Passenger train Maitree Express between Dhaka and Kolkata Started Operation. 2011: Ministry of Railways formed under SRO-361. Covers and connects 44 Districts of the country out of 64 Districts : 71 mi Passengers and 2.55 mi tonnes freight carried by BR

5 Total Route KM km MG: km BG: km DG: km East Zone: km West Zone: km Operational Division: 4 Dhaka Chittagong Paksey Lalmonirhat

6 Historic Land Mark On 23 June 1998: The first revolutionary development in BR was to connect east and west zone by rail link through Bangabandhu Bridge.

7 Vision To expand and improve the railway system to provide safer, better, a more environment friendly and cost effective transport facility to the national and international traffic. Foster international rail links to serve regional/sub-regional connectivity and Trans Asian Railway.(perspective plan) To play an important and dominant role in an integrated transport system by emphasis its strength.( BR Master Plan) Strategy to Achieve the Vision Gauge conversion and maintenance enhancement-regional Integration Unlocking line capacity-signal and Telecom New Rail line construction Rolling stock procurement and maintenance enhancement To increase market share

8 Regional Connectivity Relating to Bangladesh Railway Regional Transport Connectivity in South & South East Asia TAR Network SAARC Route SASEC Corridors BIMSTEC BCIM Route Silk Route ASEAN

9 There are 9 (Nine) Cross Border points between India and Bangladesh, namely 1. Darshana (BR)-Gede(IR) are in operation 2. Benepole(BR)-Petrapole(IR) are in operation 3. Rahonpur(BR)-Singabad (IR) are in operation 4. Birol(BR)-Radhikapur (IR) are in operation 5. Shahbazpur(BR)-Mohishashan (IR) are Re- Linking 6. Chilahati(BR)-Holdibari(IR) are closed since Burimari(BR)-Chenrabandha (IR) are closed since Akhaura(BR)-Agartala(IR)- new Railway link Under Construction.. 9.Feni-Belonia - Under study for Re-Linking

10 Existing Connectivity with India: Benapole Petrapole Darsana Gede Rohanpur Singhabad Birol Radhikapur Closed Connectivity (work is going on to restore the connectivity) : Shahbazpur Mohishasan (since ) Proposed new Connectivity: Chilahati Holdibari Burimari Chengrabandha Akhaura - Agartala Dohazari Cox s Bazar - Gundum Connectivity with Nepal & India: Rohanpur Singhabad (by addendum to MOU). INDIAN & MYANMAR RAILWAYS CONNECTIVITY WITH BANGLADESH Birol Radhikapur Connectivity with Bhutan & India: Chilahati Holdibari (by constructing 7 km missing link in Bangladesh side and signing a new MOU). Burimari Chengrabandha (transshipment facilities at Burimari and signing a new MOU).

11 Trans-Asian Railway network and Bangladesh TAR-3 Radhikapur (India) TAR-2 TAR ROUTE 1 : Singabad Gede (West Bengal, India) Darsana (India) Ishurdi Jamtoil Joydebpur Tongi Akhaura Chittagong Dohazari Gundum (Mynmar border station). Sub-route I : Tongi Dhaka. Sub-route II : Akhaura Kulaura Shahbazpur Mahisasan (India) TAR ROUTE 2 : Singabad (West Bengal, India) Rohanpur Rajshahi Abdulpur Ishurdi and thereafter following the rest of the route/sub-routes of Route I. TAR ROUTE 3 : Radhikapur (West Bengal, India) Birol Dinajpur Parbatipur Abdulpur Ishurdi and thereafter following the rest of the route/sub-routes of Route I. Birol TAR-1 Gede (India) Rohanpur Ishurdi Dinazpur Parbatipur Abdulpur Darsana Benapole Dhaka Jessore TAR-4 KHULNA Tongi Bhanga Shahbazpur Akhaura Ramu Kulaura Chittagong Dohazari Mohishasan (India) Gundum Myanmar

12 Address Rail transport facilitation bottlenecks Regional transit agreements to enable cross border movements of Passenger & Freight. Government s Strategic Position to Facilitate Regional Rail Transportation Adopting a master plan to be developed Railways in phases Prioritize physical infrastructure development of Main Rail corridor Closing the infrastructure gaps and up gradation of others Rail Corridor

13 Government s Strategic Position on establishing TAR Metre Gauge Track Dual Gauge Track Metre Gauge Track Dual Gauge Track

14 Bangladesh Railway s Future Projects Step Toward Development PHASE NO OF PROJECTS PROJECT VALUE MUSD REMARKS COMPLETED PROJECTS Phase-1: (Existing MP) ONGOING PROJECTS Phase-1: (Existing MP) Investment Project-36 TA projects-07 (24.81) Phase-I: Nos Phase-II: gauge conversion Phase-III: projects 39 Nos RS Phase-IV: Related Phase-V: projects Phase-VI:

15 Passenger Train Between Bangladesh and India Bandan Express Khulna- Kolkata 9 Nov.2017 Maitree Express Dhaka- Kolkata 14-April 2008

16 GOODS TRAIN FROM INDIA FIRST CONTAINER TRAIN FROM INDIA 3-4 APRIL 2018

17 Management Level Meeting Between BR & IR

18 Historical Origin of the International Freight Train Operation between Bangladesh and Indian Railway : In the regime British India different railways started being constructed having common junctions with each other, For Train Operation and Interchanging Rolling stock an Indian Conference Association was formed in 1879 One of its major functions on going over Inter- Railway movement between Bangladesh and Indian Railway.

19 With regard to the clearance of traffic from One railway to Another, two important issues arose :- (i) Whether wagons loaded with foreign railway traffic should be permitted to go to the adjoining Railways. If permitted to go how it should be returned to the Owning railways. (ii) Should the Railway supply its own wagons or should each railway supply its own stock to load commodity to areas served by that railway. Till now each railway managed with its own wagons to the extent possible and even when a loaded wagon was exchange to another railway, it will be returned, loaded or empty, by the same route by which it was received.

20 Carriage & wagon Interchange Control: With regard to the maintenance question, it was decided to have carriage and wagon Interchange control at the Interchange Junctions/ points and a certain standard of Examination of stock laid down at these junctions/ points. The defects found on wagons are classified into two type: (i) Penalty Item (ii) Reject- able Items. Whenever a defect classified as a Penalty item is found a debit is raised the railway handing over the wagon. A Reject-able defect renders the wagon to be rejected at interchange point till the defect is repaired and the wagon offered again.

21 To maintain record of movement of wagons interchanged at interchange junctions/points, junction verifiers(txr) are posted at the junction who are drawn from number taking staff. These junction verifiers issue a report/message every day giving the Interchange transactions between individual railways from midnight to midnight. In giving the total number of wagons handed over by each railway, the breakdown into loaded & Empties and covered and Open is given. Cross Border or Interchange Instructions: In order that each Railway s wagon holdings do not get unbalanced by inter- railway movement of traffic it is necessary that in the overall transactions between adjacent railways, the railway does not gain or lose in wagons. This could be done by arranging strict equalization at each junction but traffic requirements demand that there should be greater flexibility in the matter. Record of Cross Border or Interchange Transaction :

22 Vehicle Movement Record: Besides the Interchange message, the junction verifiers also maintain daily statement of individual number and type of wagons Interchanged. Towards this aim, Both IR & BR has to (i) keep an intensive watch over the working of marshalling and terminal yards; (ii) Supervise the ordering and working of goods trains; (iii) Maintain an effective control on the utilization and movement of goods locos from the time it leaves the home shed till it arrives back to the home shed; (iv) Arrange for equitable distribution and economics utilization of empties; (v) Watch the detention to wagons in marshalling yards, terminal depots, stations and transshipment points.

23 Cross Border Formalities of Railways & Custom : Railway station Authority : Received Railway Receipt ( RR) Received Packing list Received Vehicle Guidance After receiving all documents station authority made manifest by individual wagon no. and submit to Custom authority for Clearance. Custom Authority : Collect Bill of entry Invoice Packing List cargo manifest from station authority After necessary checking Custom Authority Give clearance. Getting clearance from custom, Station Authority Rebooking the cargo to destination or Release the cargo.

24 Key Challenges for Harmonization of Rules & Regulation in Cross Border Railway Transport i) Perceptions of unequal benefit from Rail connectivity. ii) Political interest groups- eg : Negative reactions iii) Social issues and associated criminal activities- eg : Illegal migration, human & drug trafficking are trans boundary problems that could be aggravated by greater connectivity. iv) Security issues- eg : border issue, communal violence, religious extremism etc. Play signified role in the political rhetoric. v) Perception of unequal benefit and uneven development. vi) Gaps in the stages at intra-regional economic integration under the different regional arrangements. vii) Sensitive sectors and economic adjustments.

25 The way forward : Closing coordination gaps and long run obstacles from Cross-Regional Transport and Cooperation. i) Strengthen links between GMS, SASEC, ASEAN and BIMSTEC. ii) Align national priorities with regional/bilateral undertakings. iii) Dovetail physical and institutional connectivity needs. iv) Support Myanmar s economic reform, especially in border areas. v) Consider the feasibility of a common loan/funding mechanism for connectivity related projects. Vi) There should be an agreement among the signatories to eliminate the restrictions of movement of trains in the territory of member countries.

26 Thanks to All