New initiative underway to revive grounded DEMU train fleet amid planning failure legacy
According to railway officials, the authority plans to initiate a piloting program involving two DEMU sets, with intentions to scale up the rehabilitation across the remaining fleet if the initial phase proves operationally viable.
The government has launched a fresh initiative to resurrect the country's entirely grounded fleet of Diesel-Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) trains, aiming to convert the defunct assets into usable commuter trains.
The move comes as part of a newly formulated strategy by the Ministry of Railways to revitalise the railway sector as the core backbone of national transit by expanding domestic and regional networks.
According to railway officials, the authority plans to initiate a piloting program involving two DEMU sets, with intentions to scale up the rehabilitation across the remaining fleet if the initial phase proves operationally viable.
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The development marks yet another attempt to salvage the 20 sets of Chinese-made DEMU trains, which were procured in 2013 by the then Awami League administration at an estimated cost of Tk598.84 crore to Tk645 crore.
Intended to facilitate short-distance travel, minimise commuting expenses, and ease urban road congestion, the entire fleet collapsed into total disrepair within three to seven years of operation, despite possessing a projected design lifespan of 35 years.
A review meeting held at Rail Bhaban on 1 April outlined a phased action plan spanning six months, one year, and five years to oversee the transition.
Under the current schedule, the ministry intends to issue notices to select interested firms between March and June to convert the idle sets into commuter trains, after which the hardware will be officially handed over to the chosen contractors.
The historical breakdown of the DEMU project has long been a subject of severe institutional criticism.
An impact evaluation survey conducted in 2017 by the government's project monitoring agency, the Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation Division (IMED), revealed that Bangladesh Railway implemented the procurement without conducting any prior feasibility studies.
Furthermore, the implementing agency failed to include any provisions for routine or heavy maintenance within the development project pro forma, neglecting to recruit specialised personnel or establish dedicated workshops for the unique fleet.
Mechanically, the trains were manufactured by China's Tangshan Railway Vehicle Co Ltd and the Daniel Technical Research Institute, utilizing highly specialised, computer-controlled systems. However, the supplier never transferred the proprietary software architecture to Bangladesh.
Consequently, whenever a module failed among the 40 installed per train—each valued at approximately Tk7 lakh—the system required expensive Chinese engineers to reconfigure the software setup.
When the railway authorities contacted the supplier in 2018 for fleet-wide repairs, the quoted maintenance fees nearly equaled the original import costs, prompting local officials to suspend operations across various routes, according to Parbatipur Locomotive Workshop.
Beyond backend technical flaws, the trains suffered from severe design mismatches for local conditions. Although designed to travel at speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour and carry 300 passengers, the units could not sustain real-world commuter pressure.
To prevent total mechanical failure, the authorities frequently ran them during super-off-peak hours.
The compartments lacked air conditioning, and because the windows were built to open only halfway, proper ventilation was impossible.
A 2017 IMED passenger survey recorded that 87% of 510 respondents suffered intensely from trapped heat during summer, exacerbated by the fact that the engines were placed directly beneath the passenger seats, causing the floors to overheat.
Passengers also faced extreme physical difficulties boarding the trains, as the compartment doors were built half a foot higher than standard Bangladeshi platforms, a flaw that troubled 39% of commuters, particularly women, children, and the elderly.
The trains also entirely lacked onboard sanitation facilities.
In past attempts to mitigate these issues, fans were installed to replace the lack of air conditioning, and windows were modified.
Between 2020 and 2021, the mechanical wing of Bangladesh Railway engaged Engineer Md Asaduzzaman, a specialist working with private contracting firms, to repair a single DEMU set at the Parbatipur Workshop using localised technology.
Although the repaired set completed multiple trial runs and was formally inaugurated for experimental tracking by the then railways minister Nurul Islam Sujan on 9 September 2022, one of its two engines broke down completely within fifteen days of operation.
Financial assessments from local engineers indicate that repairing the remaining 19 sets using Chinese technology would require an estimated Tk600 crore, whereas implementing local technical alternatives would cost approximately Tk100 crore.
However, current internal assessments indicate institutional scepticism regarding further state expenditure.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a concerned railway director stated that due to the persistent design errors embedded within the DEMU architecture, successful revival may be impossible without adopting a public-private partnership framework, asserting that the railway should not sink further public funds directly into the project.
Deployed supervisors, including the Additional Director General (Rolling Stock) Fakir Md Mohiuddin, confirmed that primary plans are undergoing review as two private entities have expressed interest in repairing the grounded sets.
Bangladesh Railway Director General Md Afzal Hossain stated that high-level discussions are factoring in all historical mechanical and structural deficits, emphasising that the project remains in an exploratory, initial stage before any final execution strategies are solidified.
