Meghna Express

Meghna Express (Train no. 729-730) is an inter-city train service running between Chittagong Railway Station of Chittagong and Chandpur Railway Station of Chandpur operated by Bangladesh Railway.

Meghna Express
Overview
Service type	Inter-city
Status	Active
Locale	Chittagong Rail Division
Current operator(s)	Bangladesh Railway
Route
Start	Chittagong Railway Station
Stops	1. Feni Junction Railway Station 2. Nangol Coat Railway Station 3. Laksham Junction Railway Station 4. Chitoshi Road Railway Station 5. Meher Railway Station 6. Hajiganj Railway Station 7. Madhu Road Railway Station 8. Chandpur Court Railway Station
End	Chandpur Railway Station
Distance travelled	180 km
Average journey time	4 hours 30 minutes
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	729-730
Line(s) used	Chittagong-Laksham-Chandpur line
On-board services
Seating arrangements	Yes
Sleeping arrangements	Yes
Catering facilities	Yes
Observation facilities	No
Entertainment facilities	No
Technical
Track gauge	meter gauge
Track owner(s)	Bangladesh Railway
Rake maintenance	Pahartoli Workshop, Pahartoli, Chittagong

Details

Meghna Express is a meter-gauge inter-city train service of East zone of Bangladesh Railway. Introduced in 1985[1], it is the only Inter-city train service between Chittagong and Chandpur.

Timetable

(Note: Bangladesh Railway time-table is "updated" over time. Before reading this section, anyone should visit here to check the latest time table.)

According to 52nd Time Table (active from 10-01-2020) of Bangladesh Railway,  Meghna Express train maintains the following time table:

• 729 no. Meghna Express departs Chittagong Railway Station at 5:15 pm, and reaches Chandpur Railway Station at 9:25 pm.
• 730 no. Meghna Express departs Chandpur Railway Station at 5:00 am, and reaches Chittagong Railway Station at 9:00.

Stoppages

Meghna Express gives stoppages at eight railway stations on its way:

1. Feni Junction Railway Station
2. Nangol Coat Railway Station
3. Laksham Junction Railway Station
4. Chitoshi Road Railway Station
5. Meher Railway Station
6. Hajiganj Railway Station
7. Madhu Road Railway Station[2]
8. Chandpur Court Railway Station

Rolling Stock

Meghna Express runs on vacuum coaches with a load of 17/34[3]. Previously it had 19/38 load[4]. Class 2900 or Class 2600 locomotive is usually used to haul this train.

Performance

Meghna Express is a very profitable train connecting many districts of southern Bangladesh with Chittagong[5]. Many commuters from Barishal use this train to connect with Chittagong via the meghna river[6]. Due to this popularity, there were plans to introduce a second rake for this train[7] , though it still runs on a single rake.

Incidents and accidents

• 12 February, 2015: Chittagong bound Meghna Express train crashed with a bus at 11 am at A K Khan rail crossing, Pahartoli, Chittagong. Total 2 died and 25 injured.[8]
• 19 February, 2015: Some strikers put a coach (2024) of Meghna Express on fire by pouring petrol. Due to this, some parts of seat no. 48, 49, 50 and 51 of that coach were burnt.[9]
• 7 January, 2016: Chandpur bound Meghna Express became the victim of petrol-bomb and cocktail attack at Unkila area near Chitoshi/Shaharasti around 8:45 pm. No casualties happened.[10]
• 14 November, 2017: A person died being hit by Meghna Express train at around 5 am at a rail crossing beside Bangabandhu Road, Chandpur.[11]
• 9 March, 2018: Five minutes before reaching Chandpur Railway Station, power car 8358 of Meghna Express caught on fire due to overheat of the generator. The railway staffs were able to extinguish fire completely before the situation could go worse. Almost 30 passengers injured for rushing with panic to get out of the train.[12][13]
• 28 November, 2018: Chandpur bound Meghna Express crashed with a local bus at Shorshodi rail gate, Feni. 5 killed and 15 injured due to this incident.[14]
• 28 May, 2019: A person died being hit by Chandpur bound Meghna Expres train at 9 pm near Hajigonj railway station area.[15]
• 15 June, 2019: Some passengers vandalized glass and doors of Nangol-Coat Railway Station as Chittagong bound Meghna Express delayed 1 hour 30 minutes to reach the station.[16][17]
• 25 August, 2019: A teen died being hit by Meghna Express train at a rail crossing near the godown quarter area, Feni.[18]

See also

• Sagarika Express
• Chandpur Commuter
• List of Inter-city trains in Bangladesh
• Bangladesh Railway

References

1. "বগি–সংকটে যাত্রীদের দুর্ভোগ". প্রথম আলো (in Bengali). Retrieved 2020-04-21.
2. "মেঘনা এক্সপ্রেস ট্রেন এখন মধুরোড় স্টেশনে যাত্রাবিরতি করছে". www.prothom-alo.com. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
3. "চাঁদপুরে মেঘনা এক্সপ্রেস ট্রেনে আগুন অল্পের জন্যে রক্ষা পেলো ১৭টি বগি ও শত শত যাত্রী". Chandpur News. 2018-03-09. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
4. "বগি–সংকটে যাত্রীদের দুর্ভোগ". প্রথম আলো (in Bengali). Retrieved 2020-04-20.
5. "যাত্রী আছে ট্রেন নেই ॥ ডেমুতে তোলাবাজ". The Daily Sangram. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
6. "মেঘনা এক্সপ্রেস ট্রেনের সময়সূচি সম্পর্কে | চিঠিপত্র | The Daily Ittefaq". archive1.ittefaq.com.bd. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
7. Chandpur Times (2019-04-03). "চাঁদপুর-চট্টগ্রাম রুটে চালু হবে মেঘনা এক্সপ্রেস-২". Chandpur Times | চাঁদপুর টাইমস. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
8. [e-mail]. "চট্টগ্রামে বাস-ট্রেন সংঘর্ষে নিহত ২, আহত ২৫". somoynews.tv. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
9. BanglaNews24.com. "চাঁদপুরে মেঘনা এক্সপ্রেস ট্রেনের বগিতে আগুন". banglanews24.com. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
10. "চাঁদপুর যাওয়র পথে মেঘনা এক্সপ্রেস ট্রেনে পেট্রোল বোমা নিক্ষেপ - খবর তরঙ্গ". khobortorongo.com. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
11. Ridoyacandpur (2017-11-14). "চাঁদপুরে মেঘনা এক্সপ্রেস ট্রেনে কাটা পড়ে অজ্ঞাত তরুণীর মৃত্যু". হৃদয়ে চাঁদপুর. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
12. "চাঁদপুরে মেঘনা এক্সপ্রেস ট্রেনে আগুন : আহত ৩০". যুগান্তর. 2018-03-09.
13. "চাঁদপুরে মেঘনা এক্সপ্রেস ট্রেনে আগুন অল্পের জন্যে রক্ষা পেলো ১৭টি বগি ও শত শত যাত্রী". Chandpur News. 2018-03-09. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
14. "ফেনীতে ট্রেনের ধাক্কায় ৫ বাসযাত্রীর মৃত্যু". Sarabangla.net | Bangladesh newspaper | Bangla | Breaking News | Sports | Entertainment. 2018-11-28. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
15. রিপোর্টার, চাঁদপুর থেকে স্টাফ. "হাজীগঞ্জে ট্রেনে কাটা পড়ে অজ্ঞাত নারী মৃত্যু". DailyInqilabOnline (in Bengali). Retrieved 2020-04-20.
16. "ট্রেন দেরিতে আসায়…". Risingbd.com. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
17. "মেঘনা ট্রেন বিলম্বে আসায় যাত্রীদের কুমিল্লার নাঙ্গলকোট রেলস্টেশন বিক্ষোভ ও ভাংচুর". বর্তমান প্রতিদিন. 2019-06-15. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
18. Developer), Md Ashequl Morsalin Ibne Kamal(Team Leader)| Niloy Saha(Sr Web Developer)| Shohana Afroz(Web Developer)| Jobayer Hossain(Web. "ফেনীতে ট্রেনে কাটা পড়ে কিশোর নিহত". unb.com.bd (in Bengali). Retrieved 2020-04-20.

External links

• Bangladesh Railway's official website