Commuters suffer as Hili Railway Station shut down again

Hili railway station in Hakimpur Upazila of Dinajpur has been shut down again on grounds of manpower crisis, causing tremendous suffering to daily commuters.

Earlier, the station was closed from January 2018 to February 2020.

The latest decision that came on 20 October means that from now on, most trains plying this route will pass through without stopping.

To worsen the plight of commuters, a few trains that are stopping at the station are using Line 2, the track further away from the platform.

The train drivers are doing this at the behest of the Birampur and Panchbibi rail stations near Hili, according to the former Hili station master.

Commuters complained that though the Hili Station has helped the government generate impressive revenues year after year, the latest shutting down is nothing but discrimination against locals.

Jewel Hossain, who came to the station with his mother, had just put his mother on a train to Rajshahi. He said he had no idea the station was closed before he arrived there.

"It was quite an ordeal putting my mother on the train from the second track. I am lucky that some strangers helped us this time but embarking on the train like this is very inconvenient and dangerous," he added.

Another commuter, Ashraful Islam, also did not know about the recent shutdown.

"I came to buy a ticket to visit my son in Khulna and found out about the latest development. It is unfair," he said.

Ashraful noted that shutting the station down instead of modernising it, which is what Hili residents want, is a rather irresponsible decision.

When contacted, former station master of Hili Railway Station Tapan Kumar reiterated the lack of skilled manpower at the station.

"We do not have a permanent station master nor do we have pointsmen. Our staff have been transferred to other stations. So, as per the latest decision, we have shut Hili Station down. All the temporary staff has been released as well, and so was I," he added.

Tapan said from now on, only the booking guard will issue train tickets at Hili Station.

The mayor of Hakimpur Upazila, Jamil Hossain, said his office has already sent a letter to the director-general of Bangladesh Railways regarding the latest shut down.

"We have sent copies of the letter to all others concerned as well. In the letter, we have requested not just to reopen the station, but also to initiate its modernisation," the mayor added.