Bangladesh Railway has decided to provide additional fire extinguishers for each passenger coach on a train with a view to ensuring passengers’ safety from arson attacks.
The railway normally provides six fire extinguishers for the locomotive driver’s cab, the power generator compartment and the guards’ room on one train, Bangladesh Railway’s Divisional Mechanical Engineer (carriage) Salimul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune.
“Now we are providing more extinguishers for passenger coaches also and those will be operated by assistants,” he said.
The decision comes in the wake of continuing sabotages by arsonists during the BNP-led 20-party alliance’s ongoing countrywide blockades.
On a visit to the Kamalapur Railway Station yesterday, it was seen that additional fire extinguishers were being provided to a Dhaka-Ishwardi train.
Bangladesh Railway every day operates 334 train services in the country. Salimul Haque said the railway authorities would try to provide enough fire extinguishers for all the services although they did not have enough extinguishers in their stock.
“We have already purchased 200 extinguishers but we need more to ensure one extinguisher for each coach. We will arrange more extinguishers as soon as possible,” he said.
During the seven days from January 5, blockaders removed rail tracks at several places that cause four trains to derail; they also set fire to a train at the Kamalapur Railway Station.
The railway decided to run trains slowly to avoid sabotage, but this caused its timetables to fall apart.
Railway’s Managing Director Amzad Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have decided to operate train services at any cost but we have emphasised passenger security and the protection of railway assets.
“To avoid derailments or other forms of sabotage, we have decided to have the trains maintain slow speed, and to protect passengers from arson attacks, we have decided to provide more fire extinguishers.”