Bangladesh Railway has implemented an emergency transshipment and rerouting protocol for passengers on the northern route following the derailment of nine coaches of the Nilsagar Express near Santahar in Bogura.
Under this temporary arrangement, passengers arriving from Panchagarh and those departing from Dhaka will exchange trains at the site of the accident to reach their respective destinations while rescue operations continue.
The Nilphamari-bound Nilsagar Express derailed at approximately 2pm on Wednesday while travelling from Dhaka to Chilahati.
Mohammad Nazmul Islam, additional director general (operation) of Bangladesh Railway, stated that it could take up to 12 hours to rescue the nine derailed coaches and restore normal rail communication.
According to the official transshipment plan, the Panchagarh Express and Ekota Express will handle the Dhaka-Panchagarh-Dhaka route, while the Drutojan and Ekota Express will also facilitate this corridor.
The Simanta Express and Rupsha Express will be utilised for travel between Khulna and Nilphamari.
The Parbatipur Special will pair with either the Banglabandha or Kanchan Express to maintain the Dhaka-Parbatipur service, while the Titumir Express and Barendra Express will serve the Rajshahi-Chilahati route.
In addition to the transshipment efforts, the 797 Kurigram Express has been diverted to run via the Bogra-Kurigram route.
However, several services have been cancelled, including the 804 Banglabandha Express (Akkelpur-Rajshahi), the 803 Banglabandha Express (Rajshahi-Panchagarh), and tomorrow’s 804 Banglabandha Express (Panchagarh-Rajshahi).
A four-member investigation committee has been established to identify the cause of the accident. These details were confirmed by Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Railways.
