The mango special train meant for carrying mango and vegetables from Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi, Natore and Pabna districts to Dhaka will be inaugurated from June-13, informed Asim Kumar Talukder, General Manager(west) of Bangladesh Railway, Rajshahi on Wednesday noon.
Asim Kumar Talukder further informed, railway authorities earlier held meeting with the mango traders in Rajshahi and they proposed to start the train from the first week of June and the railway authorities sent the proposal to the ministry accordingly. But, due to some problems, the inauguration date of the mango train was rescheduled on June-13, Monday.
It is learnt, the first ever Mango special train was inaugurated on June-5 from Chapainawabganj and the train carried 167,082 kilograms of mango and vegetables from Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi and Pabna to Dhaka and the railway earned a revenue of Tk 211,458 while in 2021, the train started on May-27 and till July-16, it carried 236, 973 kilograms of mango and the rail authorities earned a revenue of Tk 1,344,920.
Mohammad Obaidullah, Assistant Station Master of Chapainwabganj informed, Mango special train has been carrying mangoes at a very low fare. However, the concerned railway authorities have not yet disclosed the carrying cost of per kilogram of mango. For the last two years, Mango Special train had carried mango at Tk 1.31 ( Taka one and paisa thirty one) per kilogram from C'nawabganj to Dhaka, he added. They carrying cost is very low in compared to the cost of the Couriers services, which is Tk 12.00 per kilogram (Rajshahi-Dhaka) with an additional cost of Tk. 10 per package.