Shatiajuri railway station, a historic stop on the Dhaka-Sylhet railway line along the boundary between Bahubal and Chunarughat upazilas in Habiganj, has a new station building but no trains stopping there. Despite an investment of around Tk78 lakh in its construction, the station remains largely neglected, leaving people across large areas of the two upazilas deprived of the rail services they had hoped to regain.
After years of closure, uncertainty continues to surround the station’s future, with residents unsure whether it will ever become operational again. Their central question remains: when will trains stop at Shatiajuri?
Residents allege that the prolonged closure has left the newly built station building and platform vulnerable to theft, with various materials being stolen. They also say drug users gather on the premises and engage in other anti-social activities after dark. They are calling for the station to be fully reopened as soon as possible and for trains to resume stopping there.
According to railway sources, Shatiajuri station was built during the British colonial period and remained operational for many years. It was eventually closed in 1998 amid various difficulties, including staff shortages. After a gap of nearly two decades, railway authorities took the initiative to reopen it. As part of the plan, construction of a new station building began in the 2022-23 financial year at a cost of around Tk78 lakh and was completed in the 2023-24 financial year.
However, normal operations did not resume after construction was completed. Residents had expected at least local trains to stop there once the new station building was ready, but that has yet to happen.
Local resident Abdur Razzak Raju said reopening Shatiajuri station would allow several lakh people from Bahubal and Chunarughat upazilas to travel to Dhaka, Sylhet and other parts of the country at a very low cost.
It would also make it easier for local farmers to transport their agricultural produce, giving a boost to the rural economy and business activities in the area, he said.
Another resident, Abdul Zahir, said locals had been delighted when they heard about the initiative to reopen the station after years of closure.
“We thought trains would finally stop here after seeing the new, gleaming station building. But they still do not,” he said.
He said the newly constructed building had yet to serve any purpose and that drug users gathered there at night. He called on the authorities concerned to resume local train services on the route as soon as possible.
Railway officials said no trains currently stop at Shatiajuri because local train services on the route have been discontinued. The local train Surma Mail was suspended in 2019 because of a shortage of drivers and locomotives. The station has remained inactive since then.
They said Shatiajuri is primarily a ‘D’-class station. A shortage of locomotives and the absence of a separate loop line also limit the technical feasibility of stopping other trains there.
Fuad Hossain Ananda, divisional transport officer of Bangladesh Railway’s Dhaka division, said train services had been suspended because of a locomotive shortage.
“Since the closure of Surma Mail, no trains have been stopping here,” he said.
Ahsan Habib, divisional engineer-2 of the Dhaka division, said Surma Mail was the last train to operate on the route and had been out of service for a long time.
He said this was primarily why the station had become inactive. If train services resumed, employees and other necessary personnel would be deployed according to requirements.
