Bangladesh Railway’s digital ambitions remain elusive

Even though Bangladesh Railway started selling online tickets some 15 years ago, it is yet to have a dedicated Information Technology (IT) department. 

At present the private company Shohoz is selling tickets online, using its own server, as Bangladesh Railway (BR) does not have any server of its own.

The e-ticketing system is rife with complaints, giving rise to a thriving black market for online tickets.  

This is a reversal in fortunes after BR became the first in South Asia to launch a fibre optic cable-based integrated telecommunications system back in 1992 with a Norwegian grant. 

The move was meant to put BR in the forefront of a technological revolution, but 30 years on, the FOC-based telecommunication system is being rented out to private telcos and no other benefits of this huge network have been tapped into. 

Against this backdrop, Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujon on 22 June said the authorities are working on modernising the rail ticketing system, promising that BR would change drastically and install an IT-cell for commuter service.

Although three months have passed since that bold announcement, no such cell has been formed. 

Syed Md Shaeeduzzaman, additional chief signal and telecommunication engineer, told The Business Standard, "We have heard that Bangladesh Railway is planning to form a cell with 51 officers to manage the IT programme, but there has been no recruitment notification yet."

In this regard, Railway Chief Planning Officer SM Salimullah Bahar said, "We proposed creating 51 IT posts, but we have no authority to recruit for those. Only the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) is authorised for such recruitment and we have no information on when the BPSC will go for the hiring."

Meanwhile, passenger woes continue unabated.

More solutions, more problems

Tickets are still being sold in the black market at the Kamalapur railway station in Dhaka, complained Sabrina Neetu, a regular passenger on the Dhaka-Pabna route.

She told TBS that in her experience, railway services - online or offline - had not improved.

"If I don't get tickets online or offline at the Kamalapur station on any Eid, I am forced to buy tickets from black marketeers."

She said during the last Eid-Ul- Adha she could not get a ticket at the Kamalapur station, and had to rely on purchasing from shops inside the station, or from hawkers, the duty ansar and station labourers.

To remove the element of uncertainty and scalpers, BR turned towards the e-ticketing system. As it did not have an IT department, it hired a third-party vendor, Shohoz.

According to the railway, the Computer Network System (CNS) was handling the train ticketing process for more than an era. On February 15, 2021, Bangladesh Railways entered into an agreement with Shohoz.com, excluding CNS, to make ticketing services faster and easier for passengers.

According to the agreement, Shohoz.com will provide this service for the next five years till 2026.

At present Shohoz is selling tickets online, using its own server.

Shohoz sells 50% tickets online and 50% offline at railway counters, charging 25% for the former and 15% for the latter.

The agreement has not been a smooth one.

The Consumer Rights Directorate fined Shohoz.com Tk2 lakh for irregularities last July.

Meanwhile, instead of using the present 3,000km cable network, BR is renting it out and pocketing a tidy sum.

According to the Telecommunication and Signal Department, this FOC-network was first hired by Grameenphone in 1997, before Robi took over in 2017.

At present Banglalink, Robi, Summit Communication Limited, Bahon Limited and Fiber@Home Ltd are renting the network, with agreements signed for five years beginning in 2022. 

The agreement will net BR Tk177 crores. 

Server expired before launch

In 2006, BR took up the ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning project, which was completed in 2015. 

The ERP software purchased under the project was to benefit Human Resource Management, Accounts Department, Workshop Management, Goods Warehousing, Projects and Training Sectors.

According to the Telecommunications and Signal Department, the total cost of the project was Tk82 crore, of which Tk34 crore went to the software. 

Two central data storage servers were also purchased - one installed in Kamalapur and another at Rajshahi railway station. 

All the relevant information was to be stored in these servers. If the main server was damaged, then the data would be backed up in Rajshahi.

But a lack of skilled manpower meant the software could not be launched. The servers were then destroyed and Tk82 crore were wasted.

Syed Md Shaeeduzzaman, additional chief signal and telecommunication engineer, said "All instruments [hardware and software] and licence dates expired as there were no official skillful hands to operate them."

Since then, any ambitions on making a server have been shelved.

Bhanu Ranjan Sarker, chief signal and telecommunication engineer, said, "We still haven't built any server for the railways. Now as there is no IT cell, even if there was a server there would be no knowledgeable officer to supervise it. From our department we do regular signal and telecom work only."

According to sources at the Ministry of Railways, Tk60,000 crore has been spent on railway development in ten years. 

In financial year 2021-22, against the income of Tk1,100 crore, expenditure was Tk5,500 crore, meaning expenditure outpaced income by five times almost each year. 

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Professor Dr Md Shamsul Hoque, a public transport expert, said one of the reasons for the losses incurred by the railways was that top officials were only running after development projects, instead of looking to a boosting of the existing capacity of BR.