Title - BR out to repeat mistakes

The Bangladesh Railway (BR) is going to purchase allegedly 'imperfect' locomotives and passenger coaches from India using a part of the billion-dollar Indian credit support.Officials said Friday, after the 20 sets of 'imperfect' Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) import from China, the BR has again decided to procure five sets (30 units) of Indian DEMU and 70 AC passenger coaches which will not be compatible with the BR infrastructures."The Chinese DEMUs, imported at a cost of more than Tk 6.0 billion, have already been found not suitable for the Bangladesh Railway infrastructures. The passenger carrying capacity of DEMUs is low and passengers are finding traveling by these trains very uncomfortable.The plan to procure imperfect DEMU from India will create serious problems during transportation of passengers on the railway lines," an official concerned said.The Planning Commission (PC) has detected 'shoddy' work in the two separate development project proposals of the BR and refused to give approval, the official told the FE requesting anonymity.The BR has recently sought revision of the five sets of DEMU procurement and a fresh 70 AC passenger coach procurement project from the PC."The five sets of DEMU, to be purchased from India, are 10 MMD (maximum moving dimension) more than the existing engine of the BR," said the official.The passenger AC coaches are also not technically compatible with the Bangladesh's railway fleet as those are 140.99MMD (nearly 8.0 inches) higher than the existing coaches, he said.The BR has recently changed the project proposal of the DEMU procurement, increasing the procurement cost by 16 per cent to Tk 3.84 billion, and sent it to the PC for getting approval."But the PC has refused to approve it due to imperfection in the DEMU specification," he said.According to the original project proposal, the 10-set DEMU procurement was to be completed between January 2010 and June 2012. Now the BR has sought three years' extension up to June 2015 for procurement of the engines.

Besides, the BR has also undertaken another new project to procure 70 air-conditioned (AC) passenger coaches at a cost of Tk 9.14 billion from India to strengthen its fleet. And it has been sent a proposal to this effect to the PC for approval.

A PC official said they would not approve revision of the DEMU purchase project before adjusting the specification of the multiple units with the Bangladesh standard.

"In the next project evaluation committee (PEC) meeting, we will form a technical committee for reviewing the project proposal and giving expert opinion. Unil that time, we will not consider for approval both the projects," he said.

Under another project, the BR has recently procured 20 sets (60 units) of imperfect DEMU from China at the cost of Tk 6.62 billion which are also not compatible with Bangladesh's railway system.

Now the Chinese DEMU has become almost unusable due to faulty specifications compared to the Bangladesh standard. The DEMUs are so high from the platform and the windows are so faulty that the passengers cannot undertake journey comfortably.

A government official said the BR had undertaken the DEMU and 70 AC passenger coach procurement projects without proper feasibility study.

A Railway official said the BR has revised its Tk 3.31 billion proposal of 5 sets of DEMU procurement on the recommendation of the selected Indian supplier ignoring the specifications suitable for Bangladesh conditions, the official said.

It has also changed its preliminary plan proposal was given to procure meter-gauge (MG) DEMU and coaches from India with the support of billion-dollar Indian line of credit.

Later, the BR had changed the specification to broad-gauge (BG) since no Indian suppliers were ready at that moment to supply the MG DEMU and coaches, he added.

A delegation of the BR, led by its joint director general Md Samsuzzaman, visited the Indian DEMU supplier company in July 2012 and almost settled all the matters including the prices with the Indian supplier, the BR official told the FE.

The official said bridges on the railway line have been constructed as per the specification of the existing engines and passenger coaches.

"If the maximum moving dimension of the proposed Indian DEMU and the coaches become higher than our present engines and coaches, those will not be able to cross the bridges," he told the FE.

"Usually some passengers are allowed to board the roof-top of the trains during the Eid vacation and Biswa Ijtema. What will be happen if the proposed Indian DEMU and coaches are not adjusted with the Bangladesh standards," he questioned.

The official said some BR officials and a vested group are involved in procuring these allegedly imperfect DEMU and coaches misusing public funds.

When contacted, the Director General of the BR was not available for comment.