Staff Correspondent

The 30-hour strike called by the Bangladesh Railway running staff has cost Dhaka’s Kamalapur Railway Station nearly Tk 12 million in financial losses.

“Kamalapur Railway Station earns between Tk 11.50 million to Tk 12 million in a day from ticket sales,” the station’s Manager Shahadat Hossain told the media on Wednesday. “As all the trains were suspended yesterday [Tuesday], the passengers had to be refunded their tickets, leading to losses for the railway.”

Every day, 42 pairs of inter-city trains and 25 pairs of local, mail, and commuter trains use Kamalapur Railway Station.

The railway running staff began a work stoppage at 12am on Tuesday to demand that their running allowance be added to their wages when calculating pensions and gratuity. The stoppage brought all train services to a halt across the country.

Under the unprecedented circumstances, passengers faced trouble as their trips were cancelled. The railway then offered to refund the passengers' tickets.

Despite holding meetings throughout the day on Tuesday to convince the railway workers to return to work, senior officials – including the secretary of the railway ministry and the acting director general of Bangladesh Railways – could not reach a compromise. The issue stalled as Mojibur Rahman, the leader of the running staff, could not be found.

Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, special assistant to the BNP chairperson and Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal coordinator, also joined the effort but could not come up with a solution.

Finally, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, after a meeting at the residence of Railway Advisor Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan on Dhaka’s Minto Road, Mojibur, the general secretary of the Bangladesh Railway Running Staff and Workers Employees Association, announced the withdrawal of the strike and the resumption of train services.

Following the meeting, Mojibur urged the running staff to return to work, saying that their demands would be addressed.

"The advisor has assured us that our issues will be resolved by [Wednesday]. A notification regarding the recruits after 2022 will be issued through the finance ministry.

"We do not want to cause public suffering. We apologise. The strike is now withdrawn.”

Through the media, he appealed to his colleagues: “Return to work. The advisor has assured us that we will continue to receive our previous benefits.”