Locomotive bet falters

Ill-equipped BR struggling to mend, maintain 30 new engines; 18 break down in 4yrs

Eighteen of the 30 locomotives purchased by Bangladesh Railway from South Korean company Hyundai Rotem for about Tk 972 crore became inoperative within four years of entering service, hampering both container and passenger train services on the Dhaka-Chattogram route.

According to BR’s Mechanical Engineering Department, the locomotives entered operation in 2022 and were expected to have a service life of 20 years. However, one of those became inoperative in 2023 and four more the following year. The number rose to 10 in 2025 and reached 18 by June this year.

Several officials at the department said the locomotives have been lying idle because BR has been unable to repair them due to the unavailability of spare parts and the absence of Hyundai Rotem’s technical support that ended in 2024. BR has largely depended on its own workshops and technical staff to maintain the locomotives over the past two years.

When BR procured the locomotives, it did not have a long-term maintenance plan, including arrangements for specialised technical support and spare parts, they said.

This correspondent emailed Hyundai Rotem on October 5, seeking information on the 18 locomotives. The company didn’t respond by the time of filing this report.

SERVICE DISRUPTION

Divided into two zones, BR primarily operates metre-gauge trains in the Eastern Zone and broad-gauge trains in the Western Zone. The Eastern Zone covers routes linking Chattogram division with Dhaka, Mymensingh and Sylhet divisions.

The breakdown of the 18 locomotives has impacted both container and passenger train services of BR’s Eastern Zone, said several BR officials.

“The Eastern Zone requires 119 locomotives a day but only 65 are available right now,” Shafiquar Rahman, chief operating superintendent (East) of BR, told this correspondent recently.

“With the 18 locomotives out of service, we can no longer operate container trains with the same frequency as before. We are prioritising passenger services with the available locomotives. This has severely affected our most profitable segment. Of the eight container trains, only two now operate on a regular basis,” he said.

According to BR’s transport department data, container train trips fell from 2,878 in fiscal 2022-23 to 1,467 in fiscal 2025-26 in the Eastern Zone, with earnings from container services dropping from Tk 296.47 crore to Tk 163.31 crore.

The data show that the average daily allocation of locomotives for container trains fell from 11 in fiscal 2022-23 to eight in fiscal 2023-24, six in fiscal 2024-25 and just three in the previous fiscal year.

The locomotive shortage has also strained passenger services, leading to the suspension of five passenger trains on Chattogram-Tangail, Dhaka-Noakhali and Laksam-Noakhali routes between March 2025 and June 2026, said BR officials.

These trains used to carry around 2,200 passengers a day, according to data from the stations at Chattogram and Laksam junctions.

Moreover, The Sonar Bangla Express, a flagship service of BR on the Dhaka-Chattogram route, has faced delays on most trips since July 2025.

The delays ranged from 15 minutes to two and a half hours, mainly because locomotives were not available on time.

PROBLEM WITH NEW LOCOMOTIVES

Asked why BR has not been able to repair the 18 locomotives, Saiful Islam, director (Locomotive Maintenance) of BR, said, “A computer-based system and specific software are needed to fix these locomotives. Besides, some of the spare parts for these locomotives are manufacturer-specific. Our existing system cannot fully meet these requirements.”

Ehtesam Md Shafiq, mechanical engineer and works manager at Pahartali Railway Diesel Workshop, said the sensors of these locomotives do not accept alternative parts, making it difficult for BR to maintain them without support from the manufacturer or authorised sources.

He further said five locomotives had developed technical faults before Hyundai Rotem’s warranty period ended in October 2024.

The company’s technical team repaired them. Though the five locomotives remained in operation, they continued to experience problems. Later, the railway staff were unable to keep them running after the team left Bangladesh.

Shafiq said they informed Hyundai Rotem about the situation, but the company told them that the locomotives needed scheduled servicing that was not covered by the warranty agreement and would have to be arranged by the railway separately.

Noting the absence of due diligence in the procurement process, transport expert Md Shamsul Hoque said BR should have assessed the long-term costs of maintenance, spare parts and technical support before purchasing the locomotives.

“The procurement authorities and the railway officials involved in planning and approving the purchase should be held accountable for failing to assess the locomotives’ long-term maintenance needs,” said Shamsul, a professor of civil engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

The 30 locomotives were bought from Hyundai Rotem under two contracts -- 10 for Tk 297.63 crore in 2018 under an Asian Development Bank-funded project and 20 for Tk 674.09 crore under a 2019 contract.

Controversy hit the procurement of the 10 locomotives as a railway probe found differences between the contract specifications and some major components, including compressors and traction motors, supplied by Hyundai Rotem.

The issue later drew the attention of the Anti-Corruption Commission, which filed a case in 2025 against three former senior BR officials over alleged irregularities in the procurement and acceptance of the locomotives.

Six of the 10 locomotives are now lying at the Pahartali Diesel Workshop in Chattogram along with other out-of-service locomotives.

With scores of locomotives out of service, BR has drawn up a proposal to sign a Tk 680-crore maintenance agreement with Progress Rail, a US-based locomotive manufacturer and service provider, for three years.

“The BR’s procurement department did not prepare an asset management plan when it purchased the locomotives. Now BR seeks to sign a maintenance agreement to ensure maintenance, technical support and availability of spare parts for the locomotives,” said Anwarul Islam, additional chief controller of stores of BR.

Under the proposed agreement, Progress Rail, a US company based in Alabama, will provide the necessary equipment and services through its agent in Bangladesh -- Desh International. The US company holds the patents to some components used in Hyundai Rotem locomotives.

The agreement will cover 70 locomotives -- the 30 Korean-made ones in the Eastern Zone and another 40 being used in BR’s Western Zone.

Under the proposed agreement, around Tk 30 crore has been earmarked for salaries of staff, consultants and related costs, while most of the remaining Tk 650 crore will be spent on spare parts over three years.

BR officials expect that the arrangement will raise locomotive availability to around 95 percent.

Anwarul said the proposed agreement has already been approved by the railways ministry, but it requires further approval from the Finance Division and other government agencies.

“Several agencies have made some observations, which are now being addressed. The proposal will soon be submitted to the relevant agencies for approval,” he added.