Bangladesh railway unveils commuter service via Padma Bridge

Bangladesh Railway inaugurated a long-awaited commuter service between Dhaka and Gopalganj via the Padma Bridge on Monday, ending years of anticipation among residents of the south-western districts and promising to reshape daily commuting, trade, and the regional economy along the corridor.

Road Transport and Bridges, Shipping, and Railways Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam MP formally flagged off the Ovijatri Commuter from Dhaka's Kamalapur station at 3:30 pm, with the inaugural run carrying Gopalganj's three constituency MPs alongside senior railway officials. Running six days a week -- Trains 135 and 136, with Saturdays off -- the service departs Dhaka at 3:30 pm and reaches Gopalganj by 6:45 pm, before making the return leg from 7:15 pm to 10:25 pm, covering the roughly 148-kilometre route in just over three hours via stops including Keraniganj, Srinagar, Mawa, Bhanga Junction, Nagarkanda, Maheshpur and Kashiani. The eight-coach train, carrying 630 seats, charges a commuter-class fare of just Taka 145 -- a fraction of the cost of the equivalent bus journey -- positioning it as a lifeline for daily wage earners, students, traders, and patients travelling to the capital.

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Minister Alam framed the launch as part of a far larger ambition: an expanding commuter rail network designed to draw population pressure away from Dhaka by enabling residents of surrounding districts to reach the capital within two to two-and-a-half hours, work a full day, and return home the same evening. He pointed to plans for doubling frequency on the Dhaka-Narayanganj route to sixteen train-pairs once infrastructure work concludes, alongside future commuter expansions to Narsingdi, Tongi, Joydebpur, Tangail, and eventually Manikganj -- even as he acknowledged that ageing rail lines and a shortage of coaches and locomotives continue to constrain how quickly such services can multiply. Locals and railway officials alike see further upside in freight potential, with a Gopalganj rail inspector suggesting that attaching luggage vans in the future could let farmers ship produce to Dhaka's markets more cheaply, tightening the link between the region's agricultural output and the capital's consumers.