The West Zone of Bangladesh Railway will launch a 'special mango train' on Chapainawabganj-Dhaka route via Rajshahi from today (Monday) for the third consecutive time.
"We have taken all sorts of preparations to launch the train from Monday for transporting mango to Dhaka from this mango producing area for the benefit of the growers and traders," said Asim Kumar Talukder, General Manager of the zone, on Sunday.
He said the initiative has also been taken to transport mangoes at a lower cost for the welfare of the mango traders and farmers. The train with capacity of around 300 metric tons will depart from Chapainawabganj at 4:30pm, while from Rajshahi station at 5.50 pm and will reach Dhaka at 2am.The cargo train will carry maximum mangoes in eight wagons every day. So, farmers and traders can transport goods at their will. It will cost Taka 1.17 to carry a kilogram of mango to Dhaka from Rajshahi, and it is Taka 1.30 from Chapainawabganj to Dhaka. Asim Talukder clarified that transport of mangoes in the special train would cost Taka 1,117 per ton whereas courier services cost Taka 20,000 per ton and private trucks cost around Taka 2,000 a ton.
The train will make a stoppage for loading mangoes at 11 stations on the Chapainawabgonj-Dhaka railway route via Rajshahi. The parcel train may have stoppages at other stations based on parcel booking and unloading.
In addition to mango, there is provision of carrying all kinds of vegetables, seasonal fruits, eggs and other agricultural products at less cost in the special train. The railway porters will conduct all sorts of the loading and unloading works of the goods.
To this end, the porters were imparted need-based training on how to handle the goods from booking to loading as well to unloading properly. In 2020 last, the Mango Special Train was launched for the first time in the wake of growers' transportation problems.
"We have earned Taka 9.30 lakh revenue by transporting 857 tons of mango, litchi and other agricultural products," Talukder added.
Officials said mango was cultivated on 26,150 hectares of land in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj districts where it's expected to yield 2,44,000 tonnes of mangoes this year.
Mango groves were also nurtured on 12,671 hectares of land in Naogaon district where the target was fixed to produce 1,61,242 tons of mangoes while in Natore district is expected to produce 56,021 tons of mangoes on 4,823 hectares of land.