Goods stranded at Kamalapur Station as strike halts train service nationwide

In addition to the sufferings of the passengers, goods carried by the parcel section of the Bangladesh Railway have been left stranded at Kamalapur Railway Station as the work stoppage by the railway running staff halts train services nationwide.

The running staff opted for a work stoppage to push for a list of unmet demands, including the addition of running allowances in their basic pay for pension calculations and gratuity benefits, reports bdnews24.com.

A visit to platform No. 1 at the Kamalapur Railway Station on Tuesday, showed goods like sofas, chairs, fridges and plastic items left outside the parcel wing.

Some tired people who had brought the goods to the station were sleeping on them.

"As the trains are not operating, we couldn't send these goods. And so they are being dumped here. These will be sent when the train service resumes," an official at the parcel wing said.

The railway running staff opted for the work stoppage as their demands have yet to be fulfilled.

As part of their protest programme, no running staff got on board scheduled trains after 12:00 am on Tuesday. Hence, the train services across the country have been suspended.

Railway running staff include guards, loco masters, assistant loco masters, sub loco masters, and travel ticket examiners. They are directly related to running trains. More than 1,700 running staff work on providing rail service across the country.