In less than three years since commercial operations began, the Chattogram–Cox’s Bazar railway line has transformed into a deadly corridor, claiming the lives of at least 102 human victims and one elephant.
Unauthorised intersections, missing safety barriers, and unmanned level crossings along the 152-kilometre track have triggered a relentless wave of fatal collisions.
The crisis reached another tragic milestone in September when at least five people were killed, followed on 1 October by the death of former Chhatra League leader Fakhruddin Bablu, who was struck by a high-speed express train at Sholashahar.
56 authorised crossings stand unguarded
Official records from Eastern Railway lay bare a glaring security deficit across the network, which comprises 99 authorised level crossings alongside 77 unauthorised passages.
Crucially, 56 of the 99 official crossings completely lack gatemen, leaving motor vehicle drivers and pedestrians to navigate oncoming trains on individual vigilance alone.
The vulnerability is overwhelmingly concentrated on the newly constructed 101-kilometre stretch from Dohazari to Cox’s Bazar, where 56 of its 72 authorised crossings lack both gatemen and physical security barriers to halt traffic as trains approach.
In contrast, the older 47-kilometre section between Chattogram and Dohazari operates with 27 authorised crossings and 47 illegal access points.
Casualty toll and police data
Confirming the grim toll over the past two and three-quarter years, Sujon Kanti Dey, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Chattogram Railway Police Station, revealed that 27 fatalities occurred in 2024, 43 in 2025, and 31 in 2026 up to 30 September.
An elephant was also struck and killed along the route in October 2024.
Across the wider jurisdiction of Chattogram Railway Police Station, total railway fatalities reached 191 between 2024 and 1 October 2026, with 57 deaths recorded in 2024, 81 in 2025, and 53 up to 1 October 2026, all caused by victims being run over by moving trains.
Chronology of fatal disasters
The casualty record reads as a tragic timeline of avoidable loss.
On 1 October 2026, former Chhatra League leader Fakhruddin Bablu suffered fatal injuries at Sholashahar station when he was struck by the Cox’s Bazar-bound Tourist Express while stepping off the platform to cross the tracks, dying en route to hospital.
Just days prior, on 26 September 2026, a 45-year-old Rohingya citizen named Abdur Rahim was run over and killed by the same Tourist Express in Sholashahar.
On 21 September 2026, the Cox’s Bazar Express slammed into a covered van at Patiya, splitting the vehicle in two and derailing a middle carriage; while passengers escaped injury, train operations were severed for hours.
On 20 September 2026, the Probal Express smashed into an auto-rickshaw at the Katgarh-Alamgir road crossing at Satkania’s BOC Intersection, killing auto-driver Abu Taher, 46, an expatriate and son of the late Haji Mohammad Hossain of Maingyapara village, alongside Abdul Shukkur, 44, son of the late Saheb Mia Sawdagar of North Dharmapur Muhuripara.
Enraged by the crash, local residents blockaded the tracks to demand gatemen and safety measures, detaining the Chattogram-bound Probal Express.
Earlier in September, a night-time accident on 11 September 2026 at Sholashahar took the life of Delowar Hossain Mintu, while a 10-year-old boy named Rahat, injured in the same incident, later succumbed to his injuries in hospital.
The summer months yielded a similarly painful casualty record across the route. On 30 August 2026, Pompi Barua was run over and killed by the Shoikat Express in Boalkhali, followed on 31 August 2026 by the death of a youth named Abdullah in Sikdarpara, Ramu.
Earlier that month, an unidentified woman was killed under a train at Harbang in Chakaria on 8 August 2026, and youth Shahab Uddin was struck dead by the Cox’s Bazar Express in Lohagara on 29 August 2026.
June 2026 brought four separate fatalities: elderly woman Nurunnahar at Dhemsha in Satkania on 3 June; youth Tipu at Amirabad in Lohagara on 9 June; an unidentified man under the Probal Express at Barua Para near East Kalurghat in Boalkhali on 13 June; and female worker Nur Nahar at Srimai in Patiya on 27 June.
Surging traffic and heightened risk
Ever since commercial operations inaugurated on 1 December 2023, passenger traffic on the route has expanded steadily.
Currently, four pairs of intercity services navigate the line, comprising the Cox’s Bazar Express and Tourist Express connecting Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar, alongside the Probal Express and Shoikat Express linking Chattogram to Cox’s Bazar.
With the Mahanagar Express scheduled to join the Dhaka service next month, concerns are mounting that higher train frequencies will drastically amplify collision risks at unmanned level crossings.
Official stance and resource constraints
In response to the crisis, railway authorities have closed 22 illegal crossings and are taking steps to seal 35 more, while submitting a proposal to the Ministry of Railways to recruit personnel for the 56 unmanned authorised crossings.
However, these corrective measures remain heavily constrained by budgetary shortages relative to the manpower required to maintain and safeguard the newly constructed railway line.
Mostafizur Rahman Bhuiyan, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Eastern Railway, urged public caution, pointing out that various organisations and local residents routinely construct unauthorised paths across the tracks for personal convenience.
Echoing those concerns, Tahura Jannat, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Chattogram Railway Police, observed that while locals frequently build illicit crossings for convenience, those same communities turn to track blockades and demand security guards the moment a fatal accident occurs.
