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The newly built Ishwardi-Dhalarchar railway line was able to earn only 0.60 per cent of its revenue-earning target set for the fiscal year (FY) 2023-24.
It earned revenue amounting to Tk 17.33 million in FY'24 as against the target of Tk 2.89 billion, according to a report of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED).
Revenue earnings of the 76.80-kilometre railway line, which was built at a cost of Tk 17.15 billion, continue to fall far short of the projections.
A single pair of trains now runs on the line, the report added.
"At the present rate of earnings, it would take more than 989 years to recover its construction cost," said a senior official at the IMED.
According to the Planning Commission (PC) sources, in 2010 the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the Tk 9.83 billion project to construct a railway line, aiming to integrate the corridor into the national railway network, improve passengers' transit and freight transport facilities.
The construction of the 82.43-kilometers rail line, including 76.80 kilometers of main line and 5.63 kilometers of loop line, along with related infrastructure, were to be completed by 2015.
But, it took four years more to complete in 2019.
The IMED's Impact Assessment report, which was made through a third party consultation firm, reported that the project has failed to meet its objectives with operating only one pair of trains daily.
The report said the train departs Dhalarchar early morning and returns from Rajshahi late at night. As a result, the passengers of that area find it less useful, it added.
Additionally, the limited number of seats on the train also prevents many potential users from traveling.
The report also unearthed a series of irregularities, inefficiencies, and structural underutilisation in respect of formulation, implementation, procurement, and post-completion service operations in the project.
It said the project proposal was 'weak' due to lack of a comprehensive feasibility study, which led to multiple revisions and an inordinate delay in its implementation.
However, the impact evaluation team found insufficient ballast in many sections of the newly constructed line, sources said, adding that no permanent staff has been appointed for its maintenance.
Due to shortage of manpower, signal systems at six of the 11 stations remain non-operational, raising serious safety concerns, according to IMED.
Additionally, two stations remain unutilised as only 17 staffers have been deployed for the line--just 27.42 per cent of the approved 62 posts.
Besides, several residential buildings, constructed for staff at some stations, remain unoccupied, leading to theft of doors and windows, the report reveals, terming such infrastructure as 'wastage of public funds'.
Of the 14 audit objections raised under the project, 10 remain unresolved, involving financial discrepancies amounting to Tk 390.95 million, reveals the report.
"It is a matter of concern that six years after the completion of the project, such issues have yet to be addressed," said the report.
It, however, recommended immediate steps to resolve the pending audit objections.
About the procurement irregularities, the report reveals that contracts worth Tk 13.91 million were awarded to a contractor who did not participate in the tender process.
The priority to construction of railway line to Dhalarchar was less, considering the scope, operation, and maintenance of Bangladesh's existing rail corridors, said Dr Shamsul Hoque, Professor of Civil Engineering at BUET and a transport expert.
He noted that the project was among many others undertaken in the past due to political consideration.
However, due to a lack of operational capacity and less potential, the line has not yielded desired outcomes. In 2008, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made the pledge for constructing the railway line.
Since the project was located in Pabna, the home district of then Planning Minister A.K. Khandaker, it was approved without a feasibility study, he added.
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