Train services suspended across Bangladesh as staff goes on strike

Tens of thousands of passengers stranded in sudden disruption of railway services

DHAKA:

Train services in Bangladesh have been disrupted since Wednesday morning due to the nationwide strike of railway workers over payments.

Afsar Uddin, on-duty chief of the Kamalapur railway station, confirmed that services have been suspended across the country since 6 a.m. local time (0000GMT).

Tens of thousands of passengers at various train stations have been stranded.

"I was supposed to go to Chattogram (southern port city) for an emergency work but have been stranded here for nearly six hours," Mohammad Bashir Uddin, a passenger at capital Dhaka's Kamalapur railway station, told Anadolu Agency.

Close to him was a female passenger with a big luggage and two kids. She said they did not have any prior notice about the strike.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Md. Azul Islam, one of the staffers of the railway department in Dhaka, said that they are demanding restoration of milage-based overtime allowances and retirement benefits.

He added that they had been requesting the authorities for long to meet their demands but did not get any outcome.

Railway Minister Nurual Islam Sujan and other officials are set to hold talks to solve the crisis.