Railway to buy 30 locomotives, inquiry panel to scrutinise purchases

The panel’s recommendations are due at the Ministry of Railways in 15 working days

The Ministry of Railways has formed an inquiry committee to scrutinise the specifications, involving technical, electrical capacity, and operational capacity, in the purchase of 30 metre-gauge locomotives for Bangladesh Railway.

A press release from the Ministry of Railways on Sunday said that, based on the information obtained during the review, the panel will submit its findings to the ministry within 15 working days.

The purchase of these metre-gauge locomotives is under the project titled “Conversion of Chattogram-Dohazari Metre Gauge Railway to Dual Gauge Railway” being implemented by Bangladesh Railway.

The release also said that Bangladesh Railway has already prepared draft specifications for the purchase.

Sheikh Moinuddin, special assistant to the chief advisor on the Ministry of Road Transport and Railways, has been made the convener of the committee. The member secretary of this committee is the additional director general of Bangladesh Railway.

The other members of the committee are the director general of Bangladesh Railway, the managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited and a professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. The committee can add more members if necessary.

The notice said that the committee will scrutinise the draft specifications prepared by considering the performance of locomotives and components, modern technology, energy efficiency, availability of spare parts, international acceptance, usability in the environment of Bangladesh, etc. and submit a report to the Ministry of Railways within the next 15 working days.