Resuming the agro-goods train services

Rail transportation of agricultural products provides cost efficiency, bulk shipments, reduced transit congestion, and minimised spoilage of perishable items. Despite these advantages, the newly launched weekly train services for agricultural goods, which commenced in October 2024, were suspended just one month after they began operating. Although it was expected to be an obvious choice in terms of transportation costs, the response from agricultural goods growers to this mode of transport has been frustratingly low. The primary reason for this is the lack of integration across the agro-goods distribution chain. This lack of integration is exacerbated by the absence of clear and well-defined policies in the rail transportation sector.  

One such disintegration is the lack of coordinated infrastructure. The cost of train transportation is significantly lower than that of road transportation; however, many other costs, aside from the train carload rate, remain unknown. How the bulk of transported agro-goods will be distributed and at what costs after arriving at the destination station remains unclear. This raises the question of how spoilage-prone vegetables will be transferred from the train station to last-mile distribution without dedicated loading and unloading infrastructure. Even if we consider the existing van and auto-based retail operations, what would be the repercussions for traffic outside the crowded rail station? Train services are not scheduled daily, necessitating a train station adjacent to cold-storage facilities. None of the key rail stations in Dhaka has these facilities, and even if they did, the costs of cold storage might offset the savings from train transportation.

Another factor contributing to disintegration is the lack of coordinated management among stakeholders. This is a pressing issue that needs immediate attention. Despite the authority's intention to provide lower-priced agro-goods to customers, the decision overlooked the importance of stakeholders' roles in the supply chain. In the current ecosystem, farmers' produce is collected and distributed by divisional wholesalers (e.g., faria, bepari) within a multilayered and multilevel system. Even if farmers intended to adopt direct train transportation by eliminating intermediaries, they would be unable to implement it. Small to medium-sized farmers often lack the necessary infrastructure, and the existing distribution system does not adequately support their adoption. Cooperative efforts among small farmers can help tackle these challenges. Still, farmers must be convinced and equipped to ensure that such collaboration will consistently benefit transport from their farms to trains more than the current system. The question remains: do farmers have the mindset to foster such cooperation and expand their responsibilities beyond farming to include transportation, storage, negotiation, and distribution decisions?

The final loop of disintegration involves uncoordinated government efforts. The introduction of special train services by the Bangladesh Railway Authority overlooks both the infrastructural needs and the readiness of stakeholders to adopt them. However, there is hope. If the government aims to resume and revitalise train services for transporting agricultural goods, it must develop a centralised system that enables existing stakeholders to coexist while adhering to government policies and regulations. This centralised system, with clear roles, operational layers, and documentation processes from the farm to last-mile distribution, could be the key to overcoming the current challenges. Unless challenges related to infrastructural gaps are addressed through sufficient investments in railcars, cold storage, loading and unloading docks, and congestion-free road connectivity, the resumption of train services for agro-goods transportation seems unlikely. However, with the right investments and a well-designed system, the efficient flow of agro-goods nationwide could become a reality.

Dr. Nasrin Akter is a professor in the Department of Marketing at the University of Dhaka. nasrin.akter@du.ac.bd. Sifat Kamal is an independent researcher

in the Department of Marketing at the University of Dhaka.