Tuhin Shubhra Adhikary

The government’s move to hike the bus fares appears to have spawned a free-for-all: many operators were charging as much as 50 percent higher fares, while the CNG-run buses were also collecting fares at the new rate that does not apply to them.

The bus and launch fares are now up by as much as 28 percent and 43 percent respectively, in the first manifestation of the impact the Tk 15 hike in diesel and kerosene prices will have on the cost of living for the poor and the middle-class.

Slow response from the government left the general public suffering for a second consecutive day as buses and trucks stayed off the roads protesting the fuel price hike.

No one knows how the poor man dines, says a Russian proverb that now seems all too fitting in light of the government’s decision to hike the prices of diesel, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas. 

A South Korean consortium has started its study to assess whether it would invest on a project for building a circular railway around the capital, under a public private partnership (PPP) initiative.

After failing to secure Chinese loans for two major railway projects, the government decided to look for alternative sources.

Bangladesh Railway (BR) is finally going to start a feasibility study to explore whether electric train service can be introduced on Narayanganj-Dhaka-Chattogram route.

More than two and a half years ago, Bangladesh Railway had launched a project to carry out a feasibility study and prepare a detailed design to set up tracks for connecting Sunamganj district headquarters with the railway network.

The government has officially abandoned its decade-long plan to build an expressway on the Dhaka-Chattogram corridor, a crucial cog for the Bangladesh economy, under public-private partnership -- after shelling out Tk 100 crore on a feasibility study and getting a detailed design.

The government has finally formed a trustee board to settle compensation claims over road accidents, but it will be fully functional only after the rules of Road Transport Act-2018 are formulated. 

Apparently giving in to pressure from transport associations, the government once again waived the fines for failing to update documents of vehicles on time.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the authorities concerned to take punitive action against those responsible for unusual delays and irregularities in a project for building a medical college hospital in Kushtia.

Jewel Mia, a temporary employee of Motel Sylhet, has been working for the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation for the last four years.

A project to acquire land and relocate utility service lines for expanding the Dhaka-Sylhet-Tamabil highway is likely to be delayed by two and a half years and cost double, according to the latest revision proposal of the project.

The under-construction rail line between Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar would be opened by December next year, said Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan yesterday. Project documents, however, tell a different story.

A feud between two major factions of road transport owners and workers has led to calling of two separate strikes of goods-laden vehicles in the span of a week.

When experts are advocating for a planned public transport system to ease traffic congestion and ensure road safety, the number of buses and minibuses are actually declining in the city.

Although the Road Transport Act was passed three years ago, its rules have not been formulated yet, preventing the authorities from executing some vital sections of the law which aims to curb crashes and bring discipline to the road transport sector.

Around 45 percent pot bearings, a vital element for load transmission, of Bangabandhu Bridge have been found problematic and require replacement.

The long-awaited opening of the bridge over the Payra river next month will bring relief to people of the country’s southern regions, but the project will also stand as an example of poor implementation of a construction scheme.