A large number of passengers are compelled to travel on the roof of the Lalmonrihat-Burimari train every day due to a shortage of coaches in the vehicle.
Lalmonirhat Railway Vehicles Control department sources said each of the four trains on the route has 5-6 coaches, each coach with 62 seats officially. However, passengers can only use 3-4 coaches, as train guards and postal department use two compartments.
Burimari Land Port station manager Moksed Ali said: “At least six thousand passengers travel on the route daily, and installed coaches are insufficient for such a huge pressure of passengers.”
Thousands of passengers struggling to enter into the train and to get on the roof was a common phenomenon of Lalmonirhat station, said Abdul Mannan, a railway official of the station.
Moazzem Hossain, a train passenger claimed that though people buy advance tickets, they do not get seats. As a result, many of them have to travel on the roof, he said.
“Though it is illegal, passengers have nothing to do but travel on the roof, as they do not get seats due to shortage of compartments,” said Moazzem.
Ety Akhter, a primary school teacher who uses the Bawra railway station, said that many people, especially women and children, travel standing on the train, while many male passengers travel on the roof of the train due to shortage of compartments.
Meanwhile, all 11 stationmasters of the Lalmonirhat-Burimari route claimed to have made requests to the concerned authorities to deal with the matter, but no action has been forthcoming.
The divisional traffic superintendent of Lalmonirhat Mostafizur Rahman said that at present, there are no plans to add more coaches on the route, but added that if higher authorities made the necessary arrangements, it could be done.