Bangladesh Railway Posso Society (BRPS) has issued eight demands over the continuing locomotive shortage and controversy surrounding an Asian Development Bank-funded plan to buy 30 new locomotives. At a press conference at the National Press Club on Tuesday, the group said a vested-interest circle was creating instability at the state railway, affecting passenger services, freight transport and the national economy.

BRPS president Md Moniruzzaman Monir said the planned procurement of 30 new metre-gauge locomotives was timely and was being deliberately drawn into controversy. He identified the cancellation of a separate project to procure 70 metre-gauge locomotives as a major cause of the current crisis, saying its implementation would have substantially eased shortages in the eastern region.

The group said Bangladesh Railway needs 268 locomotives daily but has an average of only 180 operational units. It said this results in the cancellation of 32 trains in the eastern region and 36 in the western region each day, or 68 in total. Its demands include completing the 30-locomotive purchase quickly, investigating the cancelled project and procurement allegations, revising the 2020 recruitment rules, and acting on allegations of attempts to destabilise the railway.