Work for a Better Bangladesh (WBB) Trust through a study has stated that of the 2,929km rail tracks of the country, 74.77% (2,190km) are "substandard."
The data was revealed during a discussion titled as "Disturbance of railway and rail accident; post-flood journey during Eid" jointly organized by Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba) and WBB Trust in Dhaka on Tuesday noon.
Md Atikur Rahman, project director at WBB Trust read out the findings of the study to journalists and guests present at the event.
The study also identified total 402 railway bridges across the country as risky as they were not repaired and maintained timely and properly.
"Only 14 rail routes have been identified as standard. Basically, the lack of stones in the railway tracks, wonky tracks, risky railway bridges are responsible for such high number of train tracks being substandard," said Atikur Rahman.
"The number of railway related accidents have gone up since 2010. For the last seven years (since 2013) a total of 1,008 incidents of accidents have taken place where 115 people have died while 295 were injured.
"Rail tracks need abundance of stones which lessens the risk of an accident when trains speed up," he added.
"To maintain the rail tracks properly, around 556,000 cubic feet of crushed stone are needed each year. Whereas, only 100,000 cubic feet of crushed stone are currently being used. Moreover, the stone that is used are substandard,” he said.
He alleged that the trains could not operate to their fullest potential and achieve high speeds as the rail tracks are wonky.
"In 2013, after repairing the Mymensingh-Gauripur to Netrokona rail route, it was said that the train would run 65km/h. But the train along this route was operating below 50km/h.
"There are 3,143 culverts and bridges across the country for trains and most of them were constructed during the British period and since have not been maintained properly," he further said.
"Moreover, the recent floods have damaged around 33km of rail tracks in the eastern and western regions of the country.
"Trains operating in the flood affected tracks can only run with highest speeds of 10-15km/h and due to this, train schedules may collapse,” he added.
Among others, Abu Naser Khan, chairman of Poba; Abdus Sobhan, general secretary of Poba, Gaus Piari, director of WBB Trust were present in the discussion.
They urged the railway department to fix these problems as soon as possible ahead of Eid-ul-Azha so that the holidaymakers have safe journey for Eid.