Locomotives of Bangladesh

Bangladesh Railway Class 6600 is the latest class of broad-gauge locomotive of the Bangladesh Railway

In the rail transport system of Bangladesh, diesel locomotives are used by Bangladesh Railway (BR). Among diesel locos, there are diesel-electric and diesel-hydraulic locos. Besides diesel locos, steam locos were used in the past, but now they are no longer used. By gauge, there are narrow-gauge (762 mm), meter-gauge (1,000 mm) and broad-gauge (1,676 mm) locos in Bangladesh. Among them, as no narrow-gauge railroads are active, so the narrow-gauge locos are not used anymore.[citation needed]

In 2013, the government allocated 600 crore (US$50 million) to import 20 units of diesel-electric multiple unit (DEMU) trains from China's CRRC Tangshan, intending to enhance short-distance train travel. However, these controversial trains quickly became inoperative due to inadequate maintenance stemming from insufficient facilities and expertise. While BR managed to repair one using local technologies, all 20 imported sets of DEMU trains have since been abandoned in various workshops due to waning interest among railway officials.[1][2]

Bangladesh Railway Class 3000 is the latest class of meter-gauge locomotive of the Bangladesh Railway

As of 2020, total 476 meter-gauge and broad-gauge diesel locos (including the old 11 class 3000 locos) have been imported in Bangladesh. Most of them are diesel-electric, but 80 locos are diesel-hydraulic. Among the 476 locos, 349 are meter-gauge and 127 are broad-gauge.[3] All diesel-hydraulic locos were produced by Ganz-MÁVAG of Hungary. Various companies produced the diesel-electric locos, notable among them are Progress Rail, Hyundai Rotem, DLW, GMD, ALCO and MLW.[4][5][6][7]

Diesel locomotives

[edit]

Meter-gauge diesel locomotives

[edit]
Class

series

Class

name

Builder Model Nos. Number First

introduced

Power

(hp)

Speed

(km/h)

Base Image
2000 MEG-11 GMD B12 40 2000–2039 1953 1125 100 CGPY
2100 GEU-14 GE UM13C 10 2101–2110 1964 1,370 103 ?
2200 MEG-9 GMD GL8 41 2201–2241 1961 875 124 CGPY
Kamalapur
Pahartali
Parbatipur
2300 MEM-14 MLW DL535A/RSD-30 24 2301–2324 1969 1400 96 Kamalapur
Parbatipur
2400 12 2401–2412 1978
2500 MEH-14 Hitachi HFA13A 18 2501–2518 1982 1400 96 Kamalapur
2600 MEG-15 GMD GT18LA-2 16 2601–2616 1988 1500 107 Pahartali
2700 MEL-15 Henschel
Adtranz
JT18U6 21 2701–2721 1994 1500 107 Pahartali
2800 MED-14 BLW DL535A/
RSD-30
(YDM 4BR)
10 2801–2810 1996 1400 96 ?
2900 MEI-15 Hyundai
Hyundai Rotem
GT18LA-2 39 2901–2939 1999 1500 107 Kamalapur
Pahartali
Parbatipur
3000
MEI-20 Hyundai Rotem GT38ACL 30 3001–3030 2020 2200 140 Kamalapur
Pahartali
3100 MEE-5 English Electric EEU-6 26 3101–3126 1973 550 56 Pahartali
3200 MHZ-5 Ganz-MÁVAG DHM 10 22 3201–3222 1980 590 60 Dewanganj
3300 MHZ-8 Ganz-MÁVAG DHM 12 38 3301–3338 1983 800 72 Bonarpara

Broad-gauge diesel locomotives

[edit]
Class

series

Class

name

Builder Model Nos. Numbering First

introduced

Power

(hp)

Speed

(km/h)

Base Image
6000 BEA-20 Alco DL543/RSD-34 18 6000–6017 1965 2000 106 Ishwardi
6100 BEM-20 MLW DL543/RSD-34 16 6101–6116 1969 2000 106 Ishwardi
6200 BEH-24 Hitachi HFA26A 12 6201–6212 1980 2450 ? Ishwardi
6300 BEB-22 Bombardier MX 624 12 6301–6312 1980 2200 105 Ishwardi
6400 BED-26 BLW DL560C
(WDM 2B)
10 6401–6410 2001 2600 120 Ishwardi
BLW DL560C
(WDM 2CA)
3 6411–6413 2004 2600 120 Ishwardi
6500 BED-30 BLW DL560C
(WDM 3A)
26 6501–6526 2012 3100 120 Ishwardi
BED-33 BLW DL560C
(WDM 3D)
30 6527–6556 2020 3300 160 Ishwardi
6600 BEP-32 Progress Rail GT42AC-IAC 40 6601–6640 2021 3250 140 Ishwardi
7000 BHZ-5 Ganz-MÁVAG DHM 9 20 7001–7020 1980 500 60

List of preserved Diesel locomotives

[edit]
Class Loco no. Location Builder Build no. Transmission Engine type Gauge
MEG-11 2000 Diesel Workshop, Pahartali, Chittagong General Motors Diesel A443 Diesel-electric Two-stroke Metre gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+38 in)
MHZ-8 3309 Central Locomotive Workshop, Parbatipur, Dinajpur Ganz Mavag, Budapest, Hungary Diesel-hydraulic Metre gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+38 in)
MHZ-8 3332 Saidpur Works, Nilphamari Ganz Mavag, Budapest, Hungary Diesel-hydraulic Metre gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+38 in)

Steam locomotives

[edit]
First ever steam locomotive of Bangladesh

A small number of steam locomotives are preserved in Bangladesh.[8]

Location Class Builder Wheel
arrangement
Gauge Image
Dhaka Railway HQ YD 718 Nippon 2-8-2 Metre gauge
Saidpur Works CS 15 W. G. Bagnall, England 2-4-0T Narrow Gauge 2 ft 6 in (762 mm)
Saidpur Works SGC-2 240 Vulcan Foundry, England 0-6-0 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)
Paksay Railway HQ CB 8 Vulcan Foundry, England 2-4-0T Narrow Gauge 2 ft 6 in (762 mm)
Pahartoli Works CB 7 Vulcan Foundry, England 2-4-0T Narrow Gauge 2 ft 6 in (762 mm)
Rajshahi Railway HQ HPS 30 Vulcan Foundry, England 4-6-0 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)
National Scout Training Center, Mouchak, Gazipur RC 233 Metre gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+38 in)

The 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge locomotives are from the Rupsa-Bagerhat railway which was the only 2 ft 6 in gauge line in East Pakistan when colonial India was partitioned in 1947. It was re-gauged to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) gauge in 1970.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Hossain, Anowar (15 May 2023). "No DEMU train operative, no one takes the blame". Prothom Alo English. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Railway plan to repair controversial DEMU trains shelved". The Financial Express. 26 November 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  3. ^ মেয়াদোত্তীর্ণ ইঞ্জিনে চলছে ট্রেন | বাংলাদেশ প্রতিদিন. Bangladesh Pratidin (in Bengali). Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  4. ^ "ANALYSIS OF PROBLEMS" (PDF). Bangladesh Railway. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  5. ^ "DLW bags order for 16 locomotives from Bangladesh Railways". Global Rail News. 28 August 2012. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Bangladesh Railway orders Progress Rail locomotives". International Railway Journal. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Bangladesh taps Progress Rail for GT Series power". Railway Age. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  8. ^ "Preserved Steam Locomotives in Bangladesh". Internationalsteam.co.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2017.