18 pairs of passenger trains to resume operation from Aug 27

18 new pairs of passenger trains will resume operation from August 27 on different routes to make services more functional after a long suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 18 pairs (one train to and from the same destination is considered one pair) of passenger trains includes intercity, mail and commuter trains to normalize the traffic.

Of these, half will run in the east while half in the west. 9 pairs will run outside of Dhaka and the remaining 9 pairs will run in different districts from Dhaka.

The launching of the new trains has come to light though an order signed by Rail's Deputy Director (TT) Khairul Kabir.

On August 16, 13 pairs of trains were launched and previously 16 pairs of trains were running. And after August 27, it reached to 48 pairs in total.

After the nationwide shutdown, the non-stop Sonar Bangla Express in the Dhaka-Chittagong route is being restarted. Three other commuter trains are also being launched in this phase.

Earlier, a commuter train was launched on August 16. Silk City, an important intercity train on the Dhaka-Rajshahi route, is also being launched.

More than 200 passenger trains are run including 50 pairs intercity trains, almost of these already has been launched.

However, the health rules have not been lifted yet—train carry 50 percent passenger of capacity and ticket will be sold accordingly only at online.

Almost all the trains that are yet to be launched are mail, local and commuter trains. Apart from this, Maitri Express (Dhaka-Kolkata) and Bondhan Express (Khulna-Kolkata) are also remain closed.

Among the stations, Dhaka Airport, Joydebpur and Tongi in Gazipur and Narsingdi stations remain closed. Some trains are not being stopped at Bhairabbazar station in Kishoreganj. These stations may be launched in the middle of next month.