Train services resume at Dhaka airport station as students clear tracks

Train services at Dhaka's Airport Station have resumed after a three-hour disruption due to student protests over the unavailability of tickets to Rajshahi.

Students descended on the rail tracks around 9 am on Wednesday after being told that tickets to the district had been sold out. A Nilphamari-bound Nil Sagar Express train was stopped in its tracks, while rail links to other parts of the country were also disrupted.

According to one of the protesters, a large group of students had come to the station to buy tickets to Rajshahi in order to attend Rajshahi University's admission test. But after a few tickets were sold, officials at the counter said no more were available. The disgruntled students could not find tickets online either.

Normal services resumed around 12:30 pm after railway officials assured students that steps would be taken to ensure that they can travel to Rajshahi, according to Dhaka Railway Police Station chief Mazharul Islam.

"The students cleared the tracks around 12:20 pm, allowing the Nil Sagar Express and other trains to leave their platforms," he said.

The incident is the latest in a series of student protests against the management of train services in the country. A Dhaka University student has been staging protests at the Kamalapur Railway Station for the last two weeks, demanding an end to the 'mismanagement' of the rail sector. Some students are staging similar protests in Chattogram as well.