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Maglev melodrama II

20 February 2004, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Rezaur Rahman, London
20 February 2004, 18:00 PM
Last year I saw a number of letters in the DS pointing demerits of Maglev train; I thought it delivered the message to its promoters. I thought our far sighted leaders have realised that Maglev is not yet beneficial for us, not until we address our other priorities first. Tasks which are connected to transport sector and until solved, these projects will make the scenario even more complex. The Maglev system between Dhaka and Chittagong (or for that matter monorail between kurmitola and Kamalapur) is far from justifiable.

Mr. Zabidur Rahman's letter (DS 13.2.04) raises yet another question. He thought about the civil works and the manual labour input, which is a tiny fraction of the not yet commercially or economically viable and tested system anywhere in the world. The technology involved here is Hi-Tech. It is expensive to maintain and will need expatriates to service. We have a rail link between Dhaka and Chittagong, say 250km. It takes 6 hours in either direction. Why can't it run faster?

Last September while travelling on the Euro star Express from London to Brussels, at 200mph I was excited at the speed. The non stop train ride was as quiet and smooth as a high altitude flight. There were no level crossing between points and track is completely fenced against human and all kinds of animals. I felt sad as I remembered that the train between Kurmitola and Kamalapur, a distance of 19km, runs at an average speed of 10 mph.

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There are much cheaper and appropriate solutions to these transport problems. If we only bring in expatriate trainers we can solve it with our local workforce, normal materials, involving local resources, and at a fraction of the cost anticipated for the Maglev. The only thing that it cannot accommodate is the foreign suppliers with their kickbacks.