Letter of Transmittal

28th September, 2020

To,

Dr. Md. Tazul Islam

Course Instructor

School of Business

East West University

Subject: Attitude and ability measurement of Bangladesh Railway

Dear Sir,

We, the members of team ‘G’ would like to thank you for allowing us to work together in this
term paper. This term paper allowed us to explore the Bangladesh Railway and research for a
better understanding of organizational behavior and its practices. After rigorous research and
analyzing we figured out the strategies and methods the company follows and how they apply
it.

All our group members gave their best effort for the assignment. Almost all the instructions
given in class have been followed. Concepts and theories that we have learned in our course
have also been included and applied. Provided content in the report is all done on our own,
however, some references have been taken.

Finally, we would love to express our gratefulness for your support and kind consideration in
the classroom. Thank you.

Yours Sincerely

Team: ‘G’
 BANGLADESH RAILWAY
GANAPROJANTATI BANGLADESH SARKER

A brief history of Bangladesh Railway

Bangladesh Railways is a government-owned and government-run transport company in the

country. Bangladesh Railway has a total route of 2955.53 km with a total of 25063 regular
employees. Since railways are an important means of land transportation to connect one end of
the country with the other, the overall development of railways plays an important role in the
economic development of the country.
Until June 2, 1982, the management and development of the railways was entrusted to the
Railway Board with a chairman and four members. Then, for the convenience of administration
and operation, the Railway Board was dissolved on 3 June 1982 and the activities of the Railway
Board were entrusted to the Railway Division of the Ministry of Communications and the
secretary of that department is the director general of Bangladesh Railway. For the same
purpose, under the administrative control of the two general managers, Bangladesh Railway
was divided into two regions, East and West. Two general managers of the two regions are
responsible to the director general of Bangladesh Railway.

Subsequently, on 12 August 1995, the day-to-day operations of the Railways were separated
from the Ministry and handed over to the Director General along with the Railway
Professionals. The 9-member Bangladesh Railway Authority (BRA) was formed with the Minister
of Communications as the Chairman to decide the policy. The Additional Director General and
the Joint Director General complete all administrative and policy making work.

The general managers of the two zones are assisted by various specialized departments, which
are responsible for operations, maintenance and financial management. Each zone is further
divided into two main operations departments. These departments are managed under the
Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) and are assisted by Divisional Officers from various
specialized departments like Installation, Transport, Commercial, Architectural, Mechanical,
Way and Works, Signaling and Telecommunications, Electrical, Medical, Security Forces.There is
also a workshop at Pahartali in the east and Syedpur in the west under two Divisional
Superintendents. In addition, there is a locomotive factory under the control of Parbatipur Chief
Executive for general overhauling of broad gauge and meter gauge locomotives.

For coordination and consultation of 'Railway Training Academy' (RTA) under Rector, 'Planning
Cell' under Chief Planning Officer, 'Stores Department' under Chief Equipment Control,
Accounting and financial management activities of two zones. There is an 'Accounts
Department' under the Additional Director General (Finance).
Inspection of various activities of Bangladesh Railway related to train management And to
ensure the safety of rail transport, the Government of Bangladesh first formed a separate
railway department under the Ministry of Communications and later the Ministry of Railways.

Rail connectivity is necessary for regional development and economic growth in the present
world. Railway is an efficient mode of transport as a train carries more than a four lane road
and needs 50-70% less energy to transport a given number of passengers or a given tonnage of
freight than by road (Yasin, 2010). The history of Railway in Bangladesh is of 150 years
(Banglapedia, 2016). Railway operation in today’s Bangladesh began on November 15 in 1862
when 53.11 kilometres of broad gauge line was opened for traffic between Darshona in
Chuadanga and Jagotee in Kushtia (The New Nation, 2014).Bangladesh Railway (BR) has around
2877.10 kilometers of railway network which connects 44 Districts out of 65 districts.

In the year 2014, Bangladesh Railway transported 65 million passengers and 2.52 million tons of
freight (BR Information Book, 2014).This sector shares around 20% passengers among all
transport sectors in Bangladesh (Rahaman and Rahaman, 2009).

Intercity trains account for about 40% of Bangladesh Railway’s passenger travel and for more
than 75% of passenger revenue (Sector Assessment, Railway Rolling Stock Project, 2016).
Railway is expected to play a major role in the communication sector of Bangladesh. The
objective of the study is to determine the status of railway tracks and services from the
connectivity viewpoint and it also recommends some improvement options.[1]

Rail Sector was sharply developed during the Pakistan Era (1947-1970). After independence
new rail route extended rarely.

In the year 1953, the Eastern Bengal Railway added 40 engines (locomotives) of General Motors
GM-B12 model from USA. After the breakdown of Pakistan, Bangladesh Rail services has been
broken. The 66-year old expired engines are still running on railway because of engine shortage.
In addition, passenger transport is going on with such a 50 years old engine. Being older, they
often get bored. Their parts are not easily available. According to railway authorities, the
economic life of an engine is 20 years. Not only the GM-B12 model engines, 195 of the engines
of the total 273 engines in Bangladesh Railway are now expired.
 VISION OF BANGLADESH RAILWAY

To provide safe, reliable, cost effective and time efficient rail transport service in the country
through modernizing, expanding & maintaining rail system in a manner which supports
government strategies for economic, social & environmental development.

MISSION OF BANGLADESH RAILWAY

 Develop & maintain railway tracks & station infrastructures throughout the country.
 Maintain & upgrade locomotives, coaches & other rolling stocks.
 Maintain & modernize signaling & interlocking system & Telecon system of Bangladesh
Railway.
 Ensure safe, speedy & efficient train operation.
 Implement Government transport policy in rail sector.
 Procure modern technology related rolling stocks, Track materials & signaling systems
suitable for Bangladesh Railway.
 Manage land asset of Bangladesh Railway.
 Ensure optimum utilization of Development Budget & Revenue Budget of Bangladesh
Railway.
 INTRODUCTION

Background

The introduction of the Railway Master Plan contains a brief description of the main activities
undertaken leading to a long-term Master Plan for the Bangladesh Railway (BR). In order to
develop balanced transport infrastructure in Bangladesh, the Government of Bangladesh
approved the National Land Transport Policy (NLTP) in April, 2004 and is actively formulating
the Integrated Multi-modal Transport Policy (IMTP) as envisaged in the NLTP as well as a
revised Poverty Reduction Strategy, MDGs, Sixth Five Year Plan and Vision 2021. Both the NLTP
and the IMTP place emphasis on the preparation of long-term plan for each of the transport
sub-sector identifying railways as a priority. The NLTP provides different strategic options for
railways such as upgrading and expansion of railway infrastructure, achieving higher quality
services and operations and establishing international rail links. However, in order to survive as
a viable mode, it must significantly improve its efficiency, service quality and establish better
connectivity. Moreover, in November 2004, the Ministry of Planning approved the Revised
Terms of Reference (ToR) of Transport Sector Coordination (TSC) Wing of the Physical
Infrastructure Division of the Planning Commission. This ToR also emphasised need for the
preparation of future Railway Master Plan. To this end, TSC Wing consulted Ministry of
Communications (then BR was under the Ministry of communications) and planned for
preparation of a 20- year Railway Master Plan with the support of DfID’s funded international
consultants. Preparation of the plan commenced immediately with the followings:

• increase railway efficiency with interventions to make best use of assets;

• extend railway (infrastructure) to meet policy objectives;
• integrate railway network in a multi-modal approach;
• allow railway to play a greater role in the overall transport sector with a view to
contributing to economic and social development;
• prepare railway for playing role in regional and international context;
• establish Broad Gauge throughout the country to bring uniformity in the Gauge System;
• extend its network within the capital city Dhaka by introducing metro system to reduce
traffic congestion and
• modernize its loco workshops and training institute with a view to increase its operation
and human capacity. This plan sets out the infrastructure requirements to achieve these
goals.

The cost estimates for investment presented in this report were developed from a review of
available reports, along with BR’s own cost estimates. Although the plan does not present
Economic Internal Rates of Return (EIRR) for the proposed investments, but provides a
comprehensive discussion on the benefits of rail transport to the nation and the value of
strategic investment to facilitate freight and passenger movement. In the preparation of this
long-term Master Plan, the following activities were undertaken:

• A review and study of previous reports and documents of relevance;

• Comprehensive data collection on passenger and freight movement from Central
Railway Building, Bangladesh Railway, Chittagong ;
• The creation of a computer based GIS mapping, and network analysis (trip assignment
model) using dynamic segregation model;
• The forecasting of key parameters, and the selection of a preferred scenario for future
railway networks;
• The development of transportation strategies to cater to the national and regional
traffic demands;
• The formulation of a programme of works for the next 20 years;

Originally preparation of the Master Plan was overseen by a Steering Committee chaired by the
Secretary, Ministry of Communications along with the following officials as members: Director
General of Bangladesh Railway, Division Chief of Physical Infrastructure Division, Chief/Joint
Chief of Ministry of Communications, Chairman of Chittagong Port Authority, Chairman of
Mongla Port Authority, Chairman of Land Port Authority, Chairman of BIWTA, Joint Chief of ERD
of Ministry of Finance, Joint Chief of Planning Wing of Ministry of Shipping, Additional Chief
Engineer (Planning & Maintenance) of RHD and Deputy Chief (Eco) of the Ministry of
Communications, who also served as the Member Secretary of the committee. Lastly,
Bangladesh Railway has been separated from the Ministry of Communications and now under
the Ministry of Railways. As a result, this Master Plan again was reviewed by a committee
headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Railways. The members of this Review Committee are
Director General of Bangladesh Railway, all Additional Director Generals and General managers
of Bangladesh Railway, Joint Chief of Rail Wing, Planning Commission, Joint Chief of TSC Wing,
Planning Commission, Director General of IMED, Joint Secretary of ERD and Deputy Chief of
Ministry of Railways. The TSC Wing of the Planning Commission coordinated the preparation of
the Railway Master Plan.

Need for a Master Plan

The rapid development of Bangladesh over the last 20 years has been underpinned by
largescale investment in the road sector. However, there is now a growing recognition that
continued road building to deal with increasing demand for transport is neither
environmentally nor financially sustainable. At present, international forums gave emphasis for
modal shift from road to rail as railways pose less carbon emission and less land consumed
mode of mass transport. A properly integrated transport plan should utilize the best features of
road and rail, and ensure that the two modes can largely complement one another. Rail is more
suited to long haul, bulk traffic, while road’s strength lays more in short haul, or feeder services.
Therefore, intermodal terminals should be planned which utilize rail for the long haul tasks,
with road providing the feeder services to and from these intermodal terminals to introduce
door to door service. As a result the Government’s draft Integrated Multi-modal Transport
Policy (IMTP) contains provisions for a paradigm shift away from road construction towards
investment in railways and inland water transport. The objective of the IMTP is that much
higher shares of the net increase in transport demand will be carried by these two modes than
is currently the case. This requires a coherent plan, designed to utilize more fully the strengths
of the rail and road transport modes in a complementary manner. The challenge facing
Bangladesh Railway is immense. The inherited colonial network does not suit the strategic
transport needs of modern Bangladesh. Track, locomotives and rolling stock are in relatively
poor conditions, and a range of physical and institutional issue inhibit the realization of the full
capacity of the existing network. At the same time railways have potential in-built advantages
over road transport for the carriage of containers and a range of bulk commodities. Railways
can offer safer and faster inter-city travel at more reasonable 7 fare than road transport. And
the railway in Bangladesh has the potential to play a major role in the context of regional
transport and trade. The potential of the railway in Bangladesh needs to be unlocked through
planned investment in track, signaling, rolling stock, maintenance and human resource. This
long-term Railway Master Plan focuses on the infrastructure component requirements. Some
indicative estimates of rolling stock requirements have been made. Maintenance needs are
highlighted as these need to be urgently addressed. The institutional framework for BR will
have to change in the future to meet the new challenges contained in the master plan.
Preparatory work for the modernization of BR is being undertaken by consultants on behalf of
the ADB. Following the results of that work, the human resource needs can be identified. The
plan is expected to guide the overall development of Bangladesh Railway (BR) in the
foreseeable future. Once adopted by the Government, it will allow BR to go for planned and
systematic development as opposed to ad-hoc initiatives. The implementation of plan, along
with modern management and operating practices will allow railway to play its full role, not just
in the transport system, but in fostering the economic and social development of Bangladesh.

Report Contents

The report deals with an assessment of the current BR’s railway network, compatibility of
standards with neighboring countries and its traffic characteristics which are highlighted in
Chapter 2. A diagnosis of existing problems and opportunities are set out in Chapter 3 and 4.
Chapter 5 sets out the background of growth in traffic and provides an analysis as to how the
rail traffic may be expected to grow over the next twenty years. Chapter 6 deals with the vision
and key areas where railway will seek to achieve the vision. Chapter 7 outlines the strategy and
approaches that have been used to develop the plan, where a number of corridors have been
identified and adequate attention has been focussed on them. Chapter 8 deals with the analysis
of those corridors, requirement of rolling stocks, regional linkages and trade facilitation issues,
rail based Inland Container Depots (ICD) and future of container traffic to be carried by rail, as
well as analysis of unit costs which have been used for programme cost, social and
environmental issues, and lastly Dhaka Rail and its integration with the plan. Investment
projects are set out in Chapter 9. Chapter 10 deals with programme costs and its phasing. The
way forward in Chapter 11 indicates as to what is needed to achieve and accelerate the
implementation of the programme.

Data Sources

All data sources in various tables have been adequately provided with references. Where no
reference is given, it means that the plan preparation team has generated the data.

ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT SITUATION

Physical Characteristics

Bangladesh Railway (BR) has a total of 2,884.67 route-km railway consists of three different
gauges. The MG (1000mm) and BG (1676mm) system has seen in the country since the
beginning but Dual Gauge (DG) – a mix of MG and BG system in Bangladesh has been
introduced since 2001. In 1970, the length of operated railway route-km was 2,858, but it was
reduced to 2,656 km in 2006. In Bangladesh era, a total of 138.89route-km railway has been
added as a new route, of which 103.70 km is DG and 35.19 km is MG line. On the other hand,
a total of 228.74 route-km rail lines have also been closed during the Bangladesh era.
The construction of
Bangabandhu Multipurpose
Bridge (BMB) over the river
Jamuna incorporating railway
lines, opened great
opportunities for east-west
connectivity, which were
earlier, linked by rail ferry
services only. In addition, the
bridge unlocks the potentials of
BG and MG lines in the country.
In respect of DhakaChittagong
corridor, the existing network is
circuitous in nature. Railway
density in the southern part is
very low and Barisal Division is
not connected by rail system.

Administratively, BR maintains
two zones, the East Zone (EZ)
and the West Zone (WZ). The
total route length under EZ is
1390.78 km. Out of entire EZ
network, only 119.45 km
railway line of Dhaka-Chittagong route is double track, 124.80 km is being doubled, and BR
has recently extended DG system from
Joydevpur to Dhaka. It is to be observed that the EZ is more Figure 2-1 : Bangladesh
Railway Network Map dominated by MG line.

The WZ also consists of MG and BG lines. This zone is, however, dominated by BG line and DG
lines. There is only 96.01 km double track BG line in the zone. Unfortunately, the Mongla Port
is not yet connected directly by railway. The details of railway route networks of BR are shown
in Table 2-1 and Table 2-2.

Table 2-1 : Bangladesh Railway Routes Network in kilometre

Item East Zone West Zone
Metre Dual Total Metre Broad Dual Total
Gauge Gauge Gauge Gauge Gauge
Route under 1283.04 83.60 1366.64 501.64 507.10 280.55 1289.29
operation
 Closure of route 24.14 - 24.14 29.51 175.09 - 204.60
Total route 1307.18 83.60 1390.78 531.15 682.19 280.55 1493.89
Source: BR Working Time Table No. 39
GIS Database, TSMR, TSC Wing, Planning Commission

Table 2-2 : Railway Routes Network by Gauge in kilometre

Item Metre Broad Dual Total
Gauge Gauge Gauge
Route under operation 1,784.68 507.10 364.15 2,655.93
Closure of route 53.65 175.09 0 228.74
Total route 1,838.33 682.19 364.15 2,884.67
Source: BR Working Time Table No. 39
GIS Database, TSMR, TSC Wing, Planning Commission

Compatibility of Standards with Neighbouring Countries

Geographically, Bangladesh is surrounded almost entirely by India except a small portion on

the South-Eastern part where Myanmar is the next door neighbour. The Southern corridor of
the Trans- Asian Railway (TAR) from the East passes through Myanmar, India, Bangladesh and
again India and then Pakistan, Iran and Turkey before it joins the European Railway. Three
different gauges are involved in the corridor such as Metre gauge (MG), Standard gauge (SG)
and Broad gauge (BG). The entire South- East Asia is having MG Railway from Viet Nam or
Singapore, all the way up to India border point with Myanmar at Tamu. Bangladesh has
mostly MG on the Eastern side of Jamuna River and BG on the Western side. Indian Railway
mostly has BG, and the existing MG sections are being converted to BG. Pakistan Railway has
mostly BG. The Railways of the countries beyond the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia,
such as China on the East and Iran on the West, Turkey and beyond, all have Standard gauge
(SG).

Bangladesh Railway (BR) has a physical rail connection with India and through India to both
Pakistan and Nepal on the western side. Currently, a passenger service operates between
Bangladesh and India. Bangladesh has the possibility of having a rail link with Myanmar on
the eastern side, once the Indian railway link from Jiribum to Tupul ( short of Imphal) is
completed and this link is further extended up to Tamu at the India/Myanmar border. There
is, however, a missing link in Myanmar between Kalay-Tamu (135 km) for which a feasibility
study was undertaken by RITES of India in March, 2005. The issue is now under consideration
of the Government of Myanmar.

As indicated earlier, the TAR network in entire South –East Asia is Metre-gauge (MG), and
there is no plan for their conversion, except a small section between China and Vietnam. The
MG network in India has almost been converted to Broad Gauge (BG). As such to facilitate
direct movement between Bangladesh and North-Eastern part of India, as well as with
Pakistan and Nepal, the relevant regional routes need to be compatible as regards railway
track gauge, structure gauge and axle load standards.

Rationalization of track gauge

As regards railway track gauge, there is no problem for through movement from the western
side up to Dhaka. But if Bangladesh transport facilities are opened to regional traffic
movement, and India allows the land locked countries such as Nepal and Bhutan to use
Bangladesh transport facilities and sea ports, certain transport infrastructure facilities in
Bangladesh would need to be streamlined for the purpose. In this context, it is highly
important to keep in view this issue in their policies of all political Governments in
Bangladesh. In the policy, special emphasis must be laid to open up road and rail links with
the neighbouring countries through the Asian Highway (AH) and the Trans-Asian Railway
(TAR), as well as to go for construction of a Deep Sea Port besides opening up both Chittagong
and Mongla Ports to regional traffic.

Depending on the demand for movement of traffic from NE India, Nepal and Bhutan to
Bangladesh Ports of Chittagong and Mongla, rail, road and port facilities would need to be
streamlined, upgraded and expanded. In addition, there would be a huge demand for
movement of Indian traffic between Kolkata and NE India/Agartala, to move across
Bangladesh, as it would provide them huge savings in terms of transport costs.

To accommodate the new traffic demands indicated above, in terms of track gauge, the
following two major links of Bangladesh Railway (BR) need to be made dual gauge (DG),
together with double tracking along certain sections:

• Tongi-Akhaura-Laksam-Chittagong, and
• Tongi-Akhaura-Kulaura-Shahbazpur/Mohisasan(India)

Conformity in respect of Axle Load Standards

An UN-ESCAP study on the Southern Corridor of the Trans Asian Railway (TAR) revealed that
the Axle load limits vary widely among the countries along the corridor. While the axle load
limit on BG in Bangladesh is 22.50 tons, in India it is 22.82 tons, and in Pakistan it varies
between 17.27 and 22.86 tons. India has, however, gone for up gradation of axle load limit
initially to 25 tones (with a provision to upgrade the limit to 30 tons in future), along certain
dedicated freight corridors between Mombai-Kolkata-Chennai-Basco-Lodhiana, but none of
them are proposed to link with Bangladesh.

Since majority of the traffic that is likely to move between India, Nepal, Pakistan, and
Bangladesh and beyond are not likely to be heavy raw materials, but finished products, and
therefore, the existing axle load of 22.50 tons has no limitation to carry the principal
commodities by BR. However, BR may consider an axle load of up to 30 tons on the new
Padma Bridge so as not to limit any long term increase in axle load beyond the life of this plan.

Conformity in respect of Structural Dimensions

The high-cube container (40’x 8’x 9’-6”) is the largest container which is currently carried by
railways in the region. However in certain parts of ESCAP region, super high cube containers
(45’-53’ x 8’-6” x 9’-6”) are also being used in increasing numbers. As such it was necessary to
check the constraints which must be satisfied by the design of the future container wagons
and the dimensions of the structures throughout the TAR network. The structures, such as
tunnels, through truss bridges, must be sufficiently wide and high to provide adequate
clearance for super high cube containers loaded on conventional container wagons( with a
typical height of 1.1 meters above the rails) to pass at normal speed.

The use of low profile wagons (i.e. wagons with wheels of small diameter or with dropped
centre sections) can sometimes be used to overcome structure constraints without the need
to expand the inside dimensions of structures at often prohibitive costs.

A review of the existing situation with regard to the structure dimension standards in BR,
whether these conform to the above requirements, it revealed that throughout the BG
system in Bangladesh, there are no restrictions imposed on the carrying of containers of any
size when loaded on flat wagons of standard height( 1.1 meters). The only restriction is on a
MG section at the Kalurghat Karnafully Bridge, which is proposed to be rebuilt as part of
rehabilitation of Chittagong – Cox’s Bazar MG line, depending on the priority of developing
the Deep Sea port near Sonadia Island.

Compatibility regarding braking and coupling system

While Indian Railway (IR) has already introduced air- brake in their trains, Bangladesh is yet to
replace fully their vacuum brakes with air brakes. Pakistan is also more or less in a similar
position. But both these countries have attached high priority to go for air brakes within a
short time.

Regarding coupling system, till recently, there was a difference between the couplings used in
India and those used in Bangladesh. But this problem has now been overcome.
Traffic

The following sections describe the passenger and freight traffic scenarios of BR. The
information on passenger traffic includes number of passengers by class of trains, passenger-
km, passenger train-km, and occupancy of intercity trains. The information on fright traffic
indicates principal commodities carried and its trend, container services and its trend, and
their lead distances.

Passengers

As recorded in BR’s Information Book 2005, during the last 35 years, the number of
passengers carried by BR decreased by 42%, although population of the country has doubled.
However, during the period, passenger-kilometres increased by 25.5% (0.73% per annum).
This is due to significant change in the travel pattern.

Table 2-3: Passenger Traffic by Zone, 1970-2005

FY Number of passengers Passenger kilometres (000) Average passenger
(000) kilometres
East West Total East West Total East West Total
Zone Zone System Zone Zone System Zone Zone System
1970 72885 3316993 45.5
1995 22520 17679 39646 2914575 1122633 4037208 129.4 63.5 101.8
1996 19630 13354 32710 2497140 836105 3333245 127.2 62.6 101.9
FY Number of passengers Passenger kilometres (000) Average passenger
(000) kilometres
East West Total East West Total East West Total
Zone Zone System Zone Zone System Zone Zone System
1997 21625 16126 37494 2752172 1001437 3753609 127.1 62.1 100.1
1998 23124 15236 38300 2947631 907868 3855499 127.5 59.6 100.7
1999 24873 11427 36239 2957344 720918 3678262 118.9 63.1 101.5
2000 26482 12233 38634 3075618 865070 3940688 116.1 70.7 102.0
2001 28551 12715 41212 3306478 902708 4209186 115.8 71.0 102.1
2002 27087 11694 38716 3142109 829733 3971842 116.0 71.0 102.6
2003 26910 12477 39162 3196908 827298 4024206 118.8 66.3 102.8
2004 28962 14758 43435 3321045 1020425 4341470 114.7 69.1 100.0
2005 26925 15628 42254 3083613 1080520 4164133 114.5 69.1 98.6
Source: Information Yearbook 2005, Bangladesh Railway
Average Distance Travelled Average Lead, Passenger (km)

The average distance travelled by a

400
passenger increased from less than 46
350
km (in 1970) to more than 99 km 300
(in
2005). This is mainly because more 250
passengers are now using long haul 200
Inter City (IC) trains. The bar chart 150
shows how Bangladesh compares 100
with other countries regarding 50
0
average lead of passenger traffic. It Japan Phillippines India BangladeshThailand China

indicates that average length of

passenger journey in Japan is about 24 km
only, while, the average length of
the journey is around 350km in Source: World Bank’s Railways Database

China and more than 150 km in Thailand. The average length of passenger of Bangladesh is
about the same, as that of India.

The following Table 2-4 shows the number of passenger and average lead of passenger by
train classes. Passenger km of Bangladesh Railway has been steadily increasing since 1996-97
at the rate of 1.5%. The average trip length of train per passenger shows an almost constant
trend, which reached 115 km in the East Zone. Passengers by train classes show that the
travellers use the second-class coaches widely.
Table 2-4: Number of Passengers and average Trip Length (2004-05)
Passengers by Train Classes Number of Passengers Average Passenger-km
(‘000) (pass-km)
East Zone West Zone East Zone West Zone
Intercity – Air Condition 13 1 283 380
Intercity – First Class 402 15 270 229
Intercity – Shovan Class 7,475 2,094 225 211
Intercity – Shulov Class 3,310 3,004 115 107
nd
Mail and Express 2 Class 10,722 5,958 70 33
nd
Local Train – 2 Class 4,980 4,554 33 26
Total/Average 26,902 15,626 115 69
Source: Information Yearbook 2005, Bangladesh Railway
Growth in Traffic

Analysis further revealed that overall passenger traffic in BR has grown only very slightly over
the last 10 years (an average of 0.65% per year). Again the change has been erratic, as shown
in Figure 2-2 is fluctuating quite a bit from year to year.
Figure 2-2: Overall Passenger Growth, 1995 to 2005

46000

44000

42000
Passengers ('000)

40000

38000

36000 Observed
34000
Synthesised growth
32000 at 0.65% per year
30000
19951996199719981999200020012002200320042005

The growth has been slow mostly because of the decline in local and branch line passengers
over the last ten years. But compared to this, the Inter-City passenger traffic has grown at 3%
per year, as shown in Figure 2-3. The loss of passenger traffic along branch lines has been
partly due to reduced railway services and closure of many branch lines as well as stiff
competition from road transport over short distances, where frequent bus services are
available now.

Figure 2-3: Growth in Inter-City Passengers, 1995 to 2005

3,300
3,100
2,900
Passengers ('000)

2,700
2,500
2,300 Observed
2,100 Synthesised growth
1,900 at 3% per year
1,700
1,500

99
4

7
98

1
02

4
05
93

19
9

0
9

0
19

19

19

19

20

20
19

20

20
19

20

20

Correction in Information Book

The Draft Final Report, 2003 of Bangladesh Regional Rail Traffic Enhancement Project,
however, found that there has been a significant undercounting of the passenger traffic
volume in BR’s Information Books. This is due to the fact that the passengers travelling in
nonair conditioned trains which are on ‘commercial lease’ to private entrepreneurs are not
accounted for in the Information Books. This has been analysed and passenger-km of non-air
conditioned trains has been adjusted in proportion to revenue. The analysis shows that for
the non-air conditioned trains, the total passenger-km in 2004-05 was 1,872 million, as
opposed to 1,225 million shown in BR’s Information Book 2005 – a 35% under-counting. This
has also affected the total pass-km number, being reduced by 13.5%, from 4,811 to 4,164. The
adjusted Table 2-5 reproduced below has been used for further analysis.

Table 2-5: Total passenger-km and share of Inter City trains [adjusted for leased out trains
Financi Passenger-km (million) Pass-km Index
al Year Total Inter City Others % Inter Total Inter City Others
City
1993 5,112 2,076 3,036 40.6 153 104 226
1994 4,570 2,043 2,527 44.7 137 103 188
1995 4,037 1,900 2,137 47.1 121 95 159
1996 3,333 1,990 1,343 59.7 100 100 100
1997 3,754 2,330 1,424 62.1 113 117 106
1998 4,064 2,619 1,445 64.4 122 132 108
1999 4,095 2,565 1,530 62.6 123 129 114
2000 4,192 2,620 1,572 62.5 126 132 117
2001 4,516 2,788 1,728 61.7 136 140 129
2002 4,521 2,877 1,644 63.6 136 145 122
2003 4,556 2,955 1,601 64.9 137 148 119
2004 4,947 3,155 1,792 63.8 148 159 133
2005 4,811 2,939 1,872 61.1 144 148 139

The numbers for Financial Year 1996 have been used as base index (100) for showing
percentage changes.

Train Occupancy

The Table 2-6 describes the occupancy of intercity trains. Occupancy rate means an average
number of passengers in a train, and this has been fluctuating within a range of 80% to 90%.
Occupancy rates have been varying widely between train types. In case of conventional trains,
the occupancy was on an average 35%, while it was higher in faster trains.

Table 2-6: Occupancy (%) of all Classes of Intercity Trains

Year Type of Gauges Total
Broad Metre Metre System
Gauge Gauge (EZ) Gauge (WZ)
 2002 55.3 102.3 62.4 87.3
2003 55.9 108.2 47.8 90.1
2004 61.90 97.80 51.90 85.40
2005 73.91 87.80 49.34 79.57
2006 69.22 97.87 40.04 84.45
Source: Information Yearbooks, Bangladesh Railway

Punctuality of Trains

Punctuality, train delays and cancellation are the three main issues of great concern to train
users. All these three aspects of service are related to on-train running. The average
punctuality rate over the entire system and all train type is about 60%, which is a matter of
great concern to train users of Bangladesh Railway. The Table 2-7 shows the punctuality of
trains in Bangladesh by train types and gauges.

Table 2-7: Punctuality of Passenger Trains

Year Broad Gauge Metre
Gauge
Intercity Mail/Express Local Intercity Mail/Express Local
Trains Trains Trains Trains Trains Trains
1970 - 90.5 90.1 - 72.4 79.0
2000 67.9 34.2 53.0 79.8 71.1 64.1
2005 61.4 44.3 31.7 69.8 60.5 57.2
2006 78.9 48.8 38.0 62.8 50.7 58.9
Source: Information Yearbooks, Bangladesh Railway

It is worth mentioning here that the slow speed of train (32 km per hour) is another weakness
of the rail services. It was found from various studies that the track conditions in the branch
lines are in deplorable condition and cancellation of train service is a usual matter there.
Therefore, increasing punctuality, improved maintenance of coaches, increase of speed,
development of timetable, passenger information, and customer services are some of the
main concern, which this Railway Master Plan is going to address.

Freight

The rail sector has been losing freight market share for many years due to a variety of
problems, which are related to poor management, low investment and lack of maintenance of
infrastructure; leading to poor service to customers. Rail share of transport has fallen from
30% to 7% over the last 30 years, but with the exception of container traffic, which is
increasing at around 9.2% per year. Bangladesh Railway lost freight traffic volume by about
35% from about 49 million tonnes in 1970 to about 32 million tonnes in 2005. Freight
tonnekilometres also decreased by the same percentage. The average lead distance remained
more or less static at around 260 km over the period. However, the lead distance varied
widely between the two zones, 296 km in the East and 177 km in the West in 2005 compared
to 296 km and 190 km respectively in 1970. Please see Table 2-8, for further details.

Freight traffic volume in East Zone has remained almost the same (below 1.7 million tonnes
per year) since 1995 but traffic has become more containerised. While non-containerised
freight traffic in East Zone has declined, container traffic has increased by 13% per year (see
figure 2-5). On the other hand, traffic increased by around 64% in the West Zone in 2005,
growing at an average of 5% per year (see figure 2-4). However, average lead distance in the
East Zone has been significantly high, about 300 km compared to about 180 km in the West
Zone. It was mostly because the East Zone traffic is dominated by relatively longer haul traffic
like containers transported between Dhaka and Chittagong Port, petroleum products from
Chittagong to northeast and northwest parts of the country. On the other hand, most of the
West Zone traffic consists of goods imported from India. Thus traffic enters Bangladesh via
Darsana, Benapol and Rohanpur, and is carried mostly to nearby Noapara, Ullapara, Sirajganj
stations in the West Zone, which are within short distances from the border.

Table 2-8: Railway Freight Traffic and Lead Distance of Freight by Zone
Year Freight tonnes (‘000) Tonne- kilometres (‘000) Average haul distance
(km)
East West Total East West Total East West Total
Zone Zone System Zone Zone System Zone Zone System
1970 4878 1265063 259.3
1995 1649 1424 2729 488377 271401 759778 296.2 190.5 278.5
1996 1485 1367 2551 442484 246539 689023 298.0 180.4 270.1
1997 1698 1652 2936 499615 282814 782429 294.2 171.2 266.5
1998 1718 1657 3038 505021 298828 803849 294.0 180.3 264.5
1999 1839 2007 3418 545291 351106 896397 296.4 175.0 262.2
2000 1573 1725 2889 467362 309799 777161 297.2 177.6 269.0
2001 1691 2305 3465 500461 407416 907877 296.0 176.8 262.0
2002 1630 2615 3667 485862 465959 951821 298.1 178.1 259.6
2003 1678 2549 3666 499792 452195 951987 297.8 177.4 259.7
2004 1699 2184 3473 504519 390980 895499 297.0 179.0 257.9
2005 1357 2340 3206 401646 415172 816818 295.9 176.7 254.7
Source: Information Books, Bangladesh Railway
Figure 2-4: West Zone Freight Traffic, 1995 to 2005

3000

2500

2000
Tonnes ('000)

1500

1000 Observed

Synthesised at 5% gowth
500 per year

0
19951996199719981999200020012002200320042005

Figure 2-5: Container Freight Traffic, 1995 to 2005

700

600

500
Tonnes ('000)

400

300
Observed
200
Synthesised growth
100 at 13% pa
0
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

It can be observed in the following bar chart that the average lead of freight in Bangladesh is
comparatively lower than selected countries. However, lead distance depends on size of a
country, location of production and consumption centres and regional connectivity of railway.

Average Lead, Freight (km)

800
 600
500
400
300
200
100
It may be noted that in carrying larger
0 volume of freight, rail has clear economic advantages.
Bangladesh Thailand Phillippines Japan India China
However, production and consumption chain has natural markets for rail and road haulage.
Rail has natural market on production, depending on following characteristics, such as high
volume, large shipments, regular destination and large inventories. Railway used to be the
principal mode of land transport and was entrusted with the responsibility of transporting
goods of all descriptions see Table 2-9. With gradual emergence of road transport, it started
becoming clear what commodities the railway is ideally suited to carry.

Source: World Bank’s Railways Database

Table 2-9: Principal commodities (traditional) and volumes carried (‘000 tonnes)
Ye Cem C Fertili P Rice Wh tSu Containe Principal All
ar ent oa zer R O Marb , ea gar rs commoditi commoditi
l a L le, pad can es es
w stone dy e Total % of
Ju all
te
6 3
19 13 6 6 3,21
70 292 8 213 4 8 139 531 623 246 0 4 66 4,878
19 103 5 191 3 1 111 204 494 248 0 1,86 55 3,387
75 5 3 1 0
8 6
19 119 11 335 2 1 64 372 626 250 0 2,32 74 3,131
80 0 6 9 9
3 0
19 137 3 496 2 9 81 349 649 182 0 2,22 74 3,009
85 2 1 0 6
0
19 132 9 408 1 1 79 206 471 285 83 1,99 83 2,410
90 9 1 2 6
3 0
19 366 7 652 1 1 181 271 416 75 133 2,41 88 2,729
95 9 0 3 1
3 5
19 234 3 512 6 1 308 289 456 36 164 2,24 88 2,551
96 6 7 4 6
4
19 367 3 306 7 1 402 339 296 37 192 2,24 76 2,936
 97 4 0 9 0
7
19 794 7 326 1 1 130 363 320 38 236 2,49 82 3,038
98 0 7 8
5 9
19 349 2 251 5 1 126 924 594 41 304 2,83 83 3,418
99 0 9 4
3
20 639 1 177 5 2 107 326 384 37 355 2,31 80 2,889
00 5 3 3
2
20 342 5 187 2 2 206 347 578 26 388 2,38 69 3,465
01 9 7 7
9
20 14 3 164 3 3 325 379 890 38 420 2,57 70 3,667
02 1 1 4
0
20 0 0 142 2 3 188 480 910 40 448 2,54 69 3,666
03 0 1 1
3
20 0 0 110 1 3 146 376 792 27 542 2,32 67 3,473
04 3 2 7
1
20 0 0 194 2 5 198 442 749 24 530 2,69 84 3,206
05 5 3
4
Source: BR’s Information Books of different years.

The total freight traffic does not show any particular pattern of growth, excepting that after
independence the total traffic carried by Bangladesh Railway sharply dropped from 4.9 million
tonnes (in 1970) to 3.4 million tonnes (in 1975). The downward trend continued till 1990
reaching the minimum of 2.4 million tonnes. Then there was an upturn and the volume
stabilized around 3.5 million tonnes between 2001 and 2005.

Principal Commodities Carried by Bangladesh Railway

It is, however, interesting to note that four of the ten ‘principal commodities’ (cement, coal,
raw jute and sugar cane) totally disappeared or became insignificant in terms of volume. This
overshadowed the steady growth of four commodities, namely, containers, POL, rice/paddy
and wheat.
 Freight Commodities Share 1975
0% 6%
13% 3% Freight
Cement
Commodities Share 2005
10% Coal 7%
20% Fertilizer
0% Cement
Raw Jute
Coal
POL
21% Fertilize
1%
27%
18%
Marble, stone r
Rice, paddy
Raw
Wheat
Sugar cane 7% Jute
6%
11% 6%
28% Containers POL
Marble,
16%
stone

Rice,
paddy
Wheat
Sugar
cane
Contain
ers

A commodity wise analysis is necessary to make a reasonable forecast of freight traffic for
Bangladesh Railway. The principal commodities now transported by BR are segregated and
shown in the Table 2-10 below.

Table 2-10: Principal commodities carried by BR (‘000 tonnes)

Year Fertilizer POL Marble Food Containe Other All
& stone Grain rs Commoditi Commoditi
es es
1995 652 135 181 687 133 941 2,729
1996 512 144 308 745 164 678 2,551
1997 306 197 402 635 192 1,204 2,936
1998 326 179 130 683 236 1,484 3,038
1999 251 193 126 1,518 304 1,026 3,418
2000 177 232 107 710 355 1,308 2,889
2001 187 279 206 925 388 1,480 3,465
2002 164 310 325 1,269 420 1,179 3,667
2003 142 313 188 1,390 448 1,185 3,666
 2004 110 321 146 1,168 542 1,186 3,473
2005 194 554 198 1,191 530 539 3,206
Annual
growth
trend - 11.4% 10% 0.7% 5.65% 14.8% - 5.58% 1.63%

In this table, rice/paddy and wheat are shown together under the heading ‘food grain’. Of the
five principal commodities two items containers and petroleum products (POL) show a steady
growth trend. Abrupt growth of food grain traffic in 1999 was due to high volume of import
following the severe crop damage in 1998 as a result of devastating floods. Fertilizer traffic
declined steadily till it stabilised since year 2000. This decline was not due to dearth of traffic
but due to failure of BR to supply sufficient wagons in time. Stone traffic does not show any
growth trend, but there are occasional increases due to increase in consumption during
implementation of large civil engineering projects.

Limitations of BR’s Rolling Stocks

Bangladesh Railway wagons carry a maximum load of 40 tonnes, and trains can operate with
no more that 30 bogie wagons. On the bright side, 47 percent of all locomotives in Bangladesh
are less than 15 years old, and there are plans to modernise the railway. Average freight train
speed is however about 23 km/hour, which is very low in comparison with other Asian
countries. Apart from this, a significant proportion of the wagon fleets are characterised by
plain bearings, rather primitive suspension, two axle rigid wheelbase, low payloads, etc. In
Bangladesh freight traffic is still handled manually in the traditional manner. However,
Bangladesh Railway is trying to increase payloads, performance and reliability from its
wagons.

Legal and Regulatory Framework

Bangladesh Railway has established Code and Manual for each type of work, namely
construction, maintenance, installation, procurement of asset and maintenance of accounts
and finance. The primary rules for All Open Lines of Bangladesh together with the Subsidiary
Rules, are known as General and Subsidiary Rules for information and guidance of the staff.
The primary legislation of railway is Railway Act, 1980. However, the guiding rules of
Bangladesh Railway are General Rules, 1929 (A.-B.), 1930 (E.B.), 1963 (P.E.) and the, General
Rules for All Open Lines of Bangladesh Railway are Administered by the
Government (Part I, II and III) together with the Subsidiary Rules, 1981 .
 OPPORTUNITIES FOR BANGLADESH RAILWAY

It is important to note that Bangladesh Railway has been providing the services with a network
which is not suitable for and oriented to the traffic requirements of the country. The railway
network was inherited from British Indian railways with two-different gauges; metre (MG)
gauge and broad gauge (BG), and three-pockets of networks. With the railway link over
Bangabandhu Multipurpose Bridge, the east-west railway system has been interconnected
using a dual-gauge configuration. But the east part of the railway network is consists of meter
gauge. The reorientation of the railway network and rationalisation of gauges are yet to be
accomplished. Over the last three-decades, the railway received a relatively meagre allocation
of resources through ADPs, whereas the road sector received the lion’s share of allocation in
the transport sector. As a result, the railway became marginalised. Indeed, the paved road
network expanded from 3,000 km in 1971 to over 50,000 km to-day.

The road sector now carries more than 85% of passengers and around 80% of freight traffic,
compared to 4% of both passengers and freight by railway. In a land scare country like
Bangladesh, such an emphasis on the road sector is not sustainable in the long-term. A high
capacity, efficient and environmentally sound transport system is required; this is where rail can
play a huge role. The draft Integrated Multimodal Transport Policy (IMTP) has already
recognised the need for a paradigm shift away from continued investment in the road sector, to
developing the railway network and improving its level of service. In order to determine the
areas where BR should focus its attention during the plan period, an analysis was made of the
potential areas where it could provide competitive services, which is shown in from this
analysis, it is clear that BR shall have to focus on inter-city passengers, long haul freight traffic
along certain corridors, and container traffic. It is only though adoption of such an approach
that BR will be in a position to compete effectively with road transports, and makes a significant
change to the modal share. Hence the Master Plan focuses on overcoming the shortcomings
and problems of BR in these key strategic markets. In addition, BR has great potential in the
regional traffic market, which depends on the revival of historical railway links and connections.

Most of these are part of the Trans Asian Railway (TAR) network and its agreement, to which
Bangladesh is already a signatory. The future of railway depends on a concerted intervention
from the Government to address the adverse economic, social and environmental
consequences of road building and road transport operations. This intervention has to be
policy-based, following an analysis of the economic and environmental costs of competing
modes.
A beginning has already been made by the Council of Advisors when they considered a draft
Integrated Multimodal Transport Policy (IMTP) in October 2007. The Council felt that there
should be a stronger emphasis on rail and inland water transport, vis-à-vis road transport,
which had received a biased support of the government and donors over past several decades.
The IMTP has already been redrafted in the light of the above decision the Council, and added
emphasis has been laid in the draft policy for the development of railway and inland water
transport. This Railway Master Plan, therefore, provides an opportunity to put greater
emphasis on the 40 rehabilitation and further development of the railway, focusing on the
areas indicated above, where BR has the greater potential.

Table 3-1: Bangladesh Railway Potentials

Sector/Business Potential Constraints Opportunities

Containers • Massive growth • Capacity of Dhaka • New ICD at Dhirasram could
through Chittagong ICD almost reached increase capacity
• Ideal for rail transport • Line capacity on • Tongi-Bhairab dual track by
• Rail only carrying 10% Dhaka-Bhairab, and 2010; and
of market, but potential Lakhsam- • Lakhsam-Chinkiastan dual
exists to carry higher Chinkiastan limits track by 2011 will open up
share container trains to 2 opportunities
per day each way • Railway can take up to
• Distance relatively 25% of market
short compared to • Could remove 500 trucks
international (carrying container goods) per
standards day from roads
• No rail connection to • New ICD in North-West
Mongla port Bangladesh could be set up

Other Freight • Petroleum products • Relatively short haul • Improved handling

• Stone/sand non- distances • Competitive tariffs
perishables • Lack of infrastructure • Removal of trucks from road
• Food grain facilities at transfer
• Fertiliser points
• Poor marketing
initiative to capture
traffic
Commuter • Massive public • Lack of network and Though BR has capacity
Services transport market in track capacity constraints, at present BR
Dhaka and other large • No institutional carries around 15000
cities experience in passengers daily which is equal
railway mass to the capacity of
movement approximately 204 number of
buses. BR is taking
initiative for capacity
enhancement to capture
commuter traffic to reduce
 traffic congestion in Dhaka and
Chittagong.

Inter-city services • Longer-distance • Relatively low • Long trip lengths provide

travel suited to value of time, so opportunities to capture high
railway (average trip may not pay much end of market
length on main more for faster • Current low use of AC and 1st
corridors 173 km) service class seats, could be
• Higher value of time • Poor quality rolling increased
(Tk 29 per hour) than stock
average rail
passenger (Tk
24)

Sector/Business Potential Constraints Opportunities

Local and rural • Around 30 branch lines • Low fares – very • Limited scope for BR to
passenger services in country unprofitable provide such services
• Poor
infrastructure
Regional freight • Around six railway • Poor connectivity • Improved direct
traffic connections with and involves connectivity could open
the region transhipments up large market
Other businesses • At present around 30% • Lack of autonomy • Leasing out fixed. Assets
of BR earning is from • Poor marketing • Leasing out non-core
other business initiative to capture services.
other business • Public-Private partnership.
BANGLADESH RAILWAY AUTHORITY

Mr. Md. Nurul Islam Sujan, MP

Hon'ble Minister, Ministry of Railways

Md. Shamshuzzaman
Director General, Bangladesh Railway
 Mr. Md. Selim Reza
Secretary, Ministry of Railways
 What is attitude?
An attitude is a psychological state of mind. Depending on the situation & time, the attitude of a
person gets changed. It can be easily identified in one’s behavior: the way they talk, behave and
respond. In most organizations, employee attitude can reflect his or her feelings of loyalty
towards the organization.

In the corporate world, sometimes it is very difficult to handle the attitude of employees in the
correct way. It leads to conflicts among employees because of attitude problems. Employees in
the workplace may have either a positive or negative attitude towards products or services,
specific work tasks, co-workers or management, or the organization as a whole.

Attitudes are conventionally considered as an indicator of the effectiveness of wok performance

and organizational productivity. Vijayasarathy (2004) defines attitude as the individuals’ belief
that a product, service or concept is a good idea. As a consequence, the individual shows a clear
predisposition for that element. Attitude means ''a learned predisposition to respond to an
object in a consistently favorable or unfavorable way'' (Wilkie, 1994).

It plays an important role in employee behavior. Indeed, Attitudes cannot be observed directly
because they are mental positions and managers must try to determine them through research
measures (Huang, 2004). Ajzen (1985) conceptualized that ''Attitude explains a person’s
favorable or unfavorable assessment regarding the behavior in question". According to Ajzen
(1985), ''an individual is more likely to undertake a certain behavior if he/she has a positive
attitude toward undertaking the behavior''.
Attitude role is used in making decisions, in understanding, and in interacting with
environment. The extent to which attitudes predict behavior is different and depends on the
strength of the attitude. As Tenbült (2008) supposed people’s attitudes become stronger when
people are frequently exposed or are highly involved with an attitude-object, or when they
have frequently expressed their attitude. Strong attitudes are highly influenced by people’s
inter- and intra-attitudinal structures.

Attitudes are the established ways of responding to people and situations that have been
learned, based on the beliefs, values and assumptions that a person hold. It is an attitude that
determines how fast a person achieves a goal or how well acquires a skills and knowledge.
Attitudes also provide a sort of framework to solve the problem of employees. Getting success
at anything employees need to have right mindset. Their body language is a result of their
mental attitude. When a person comes in that mood will reflect a message that everyone
understands consciously or unconsciously.
A person’s attitude is the first thing that another person will pick up on in one to one
communication. It is not what happens to a person that counts. It is how that person react to
what happens to that person, especially when a person has unexpected problems of any kind.
Employees can learn and master powerful strategies for keeping themselves thinking positively
and creatively. This will help them in increasing positive attitude. An employee with positive
attitude can create a healthy atmosphere in the organization.

Why it is important for an organization?

If an employee’s attitude in the workplace is poor, the most talented and skilled employee may
be doomed to extremely poor performance. On the other hand, employees who have a positive
attitude of dedication and engagement contribute to high levels of effort though they are not
most talented and skilled.

Organizations have become aware of the importance of attitude. Those organizations are
spending more time and effort than ever in developing the best attitude possible among their
employees.

“A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances instead of your circumstances
having power over you. - Joyce Meyer”

Negative attitudes lead to ignorance towards everyday tasks. Employees are messed up quickly
by small problems. Employees who have a negative attitude towards their work, they
completed their work at very particular points.
Positive attitudes among employees make the workplace environment more fun. Employees
with a positive attitude have carried out their work performance to a higher standard without
any complaint.

When an employee with a positive attitude, deals with a negative customer service call as an
opportunity for the customer to change their attitude towards the employee. Later, it can set
an example for the other employees also.

When employees are happy and engaged, attitudes and productivity are more likely to be
positive. Negative attitudes can be changed to positive ones with the right amount of
encouragement and acknowledgment. By managing the workplace and employees effectively,
you can change their attitudes positively and improve their performance at work.

The factors that can affect employee attitudes

Sometimes people’s attitudes are distracting and it can negatively impact others. It’s the role of
management to handle these factors to prevent the arising of negative attitudes in the
workplace. The factors that can affect employee attitudes are given below:

Job Satisfaction

Job Satisfaction is one of the key factors of the attitude of employees. When the employees
enjoy their work, feel confident in their abilities to succeed in the assigned tasks, and
appreciate the roles that they are assigned to. They are much more likely to have a positive
attitude in the workplace.

When an organization is looking for candidates to fill a position, they look for the most talented
or experienced candidates. Irrespective of whether the person is suitably interested or well-
matched to the particular position in the organization. For example, a candidate who has
excellent knowledge of the industry but he/she prefers to do research and development work,
might not expect to be hired for a marketing or sales position.

Unless the candidate is not interested or comfortable with the position, hiring them for such
positions might be a risky decision. Even if they have the skills to work for the position,
considering them for a badly fitted position might not be good for the growth of an organization
or the employee himself.
Job involvement

As per the information gathered from the analysis it can be seen that this factor is not given
much importance at Teleservices Ltd though as from literature it is considered to be an
essential element in developing positive attitude and hence better performance. Some
recommendations proposed are mention below:

Management should recognize that employee performance results in enhanced organizational

performance. In other words, workers should be appropriately and equitably rewarded for their
effort.

Creating an environment where individual members can speak freely for creating a cohesive
and successful team. It can adopt an open-door philosophy.

Employee commitment

Committed employees are crucial for the success of any organization. At Teleservices Ltd there
seems to be a lack of commitment towards the customers and also employees cannot clearly
define company’s mission and strategy. This issue can be solved by applying certain measure.

Advise on methods of communicating the values and aims of management and the
achievement of the organization so that employees are more likely to aligned their jobs with it.

Management should recognize that employees are the most valuable asset – ‘Happy employees
equal to happy customers’

Employee Engagement

Employee Engagement is a concept that includes satisfaction, dedication, and motivation of

employees.

When employees feel engaged and satisfied with the task, you can see a positive attitude vibe
among them. They will grow in their skills, interests, and ambitions in their respective fields of
work. This will encourage their efforts and dedication, keep their attitude towards work
positive, and increase their productivity.

Emotional Connect

The Emotional Connect is not a legal document, but an understanding of the relationship
between the manager and their employees — and what they expect from each other. When
the employees feel a negative attitude from their manager, the emotional connection is broken.
This can negatively impact engagement and job satisfaction, leading to a negative attitude in
the workplace.

Personal Issues and Problems

Negative attitudes among the employees can also occur for other reasons. For example,
personal or family issues may cause an employee to negatively impact work performance.

Such problems cannot be solved if you do not support them. But you can still help them to
solve their problems and manage their attitudes towards work.

Job Characteristics

The presence of certain characteristics on the job seems to make employees more satisfied and
more committed. Using a variety of skills, having autonomy at work, receiving feedback on the
job, and performing a significant task are some job characteristics that are related to
satisfaction and commitment. However, the presence of these factors is not important for
everyone. Some people have a high growth need. They expect their jobs to help them build
new skills and improve as an employee. These people tend to be more satisfied when their jobs
have these characteristics.

How can Bangladesh Railway can create a Positive Attitude in the

Workplace?
A positive attitude is something that goes deeper and has an effect beyond surface cheer.
Negative attitudes promote fear, and a narrowing of focus and the mind, while positive
attitudes do the opposite. No one should live in a constant state of “fight or flight”, but negative
attitudes create exactly that scenario.

Some people who tend to negativity and do complain against others are their nature. But you
cannot encourage their attitude to bring negativity to the workplace. Management of
Bangladesh Railway can implement following strategies to maintain positive workplace
attitudes

 Appreciation: This can help managers to create a positive attitude. Appreciate the
employees for their efforts and contributions for the betterment of the organization.
 Focusing on solution: Managers can try to focus on the solutions instead of problems.
Let the employees think about the solutions to their problems.
 Clear communication: Try to understand the relationship between the employee and
their attitude towards the work. Managers will get to know about their issues and
success behind them. It will help the organization to solve problems like negative team
morale, less growth, and low productivity, etc.
  Recreational activities: Bangladesh Railway managers can offer some activities such as
fun activities, organize events in the workplace so that everyone can participate. This
will help you to reduce the negative attitude between the employees.
 Practice gratitude: Managers must mindful of all the things the employees are thankful
for. Focusing on the good in both work and personal spheres will make employees react
more patiently and positively to stressful situations.
 Lead the way: As the one in charge, managers are the one who sets the tone for the
employees. Be comfortable and encouraging with employees. Listen to them and keep
up the constant communication. Once they create the positive work environment,
maintaining it becomes a lot easier.

What is ability?
A capacity and limit gained through conscious, orderly, and continued exertion to easily and
adaptively carryout complex exercises or occupation capacities including thoughts (subjective
aptitudes), things (specialized abilities), as well as individuals (relational abilities).
A business capacity is the acknowledgment of a business ability through Business Life cycle
Activities to oversee and control business improvement and tasks, fulfilling the requirement for
mission, markets, portfolio, ability, activities and business the executives. There are numerous
business abilities required to maintain your own business separated from the information of
the commercial center.
Ability is a current assessment of what one can do. From a management standpoint, the issue is
not whether people differ in terms of their abilities. They certainly do. The issue is knowing how
people differ in abilities and using that knowledge to increase the likelihood that an employee
will perform his or her job well.
What we are acknowledging is that everyone has strengths and weaknesses in terms of ability
that make him or her relatively superior or inferior to others in performing certain tasks or
activities.
According to Stephen P. Robbins, “Ability is an individual’s capacity to perform the various
tasks in a job.”
According to Keith Davis, “Ability is the quality of being able to something, especially the
physical, mental, financial or legal power to accomplish something.”
Alyssa McGonagle, a professor of psychology at Wayne State University said, “Workability is
not about whether people want to continue working, but whether they feel they can continue
working at their jobs.”
Intellectual brilliance, physical strength, and common sense are three examples of highly
sought-after abilities within certain companies. Ability is an individual's capacity to master
numerous tasks in a job. Organizations need to identify key abilities of employees that will lead
to success, and employees need to have certain abilities that will make them a valuable
addition to an organization.
At last, we can say that ability is the quality or state of being able, power to perform whether
physical, mental, moral intellectual, skill in doing, the sufficiency of strength, available
resources, etc. It underpins and contributes to skills. It can be essentially perceptual, essentially
motor or a combination of both.

Types of abilities
There are two types of abilities, intellectual and physical abilities, which organizations look for
employees to have to depend on the job requirements. The 2 types of ability are:
1. Intellectual Ability
2. Physical Ability

Intellectual Ability
Intellectual ability is the capacity to do mental activities thinking and reasoning and problem-
solving.
It commonly refers to the ability measured by performance on an intelligence test. It is also
sometimes used in the context of discussing the performance of someone in an academic or
real-world setting.
The seven most frequently cited dimensions making up intellectual abilities are number
attitude, verbal comprehension, perceptual speed, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning,
and memory.
Intellectual abilities have got seven dimensions. Such as;

Dimension Description

Number Aptitude It is an ability to do speedy and accurate arithmetic.

Comprehension It is the ability to understand what is read and heard and the
relationship of words to each other.

Perceptual Speed It is a dying ability to identify visual similarities and differences quickly
and accurately.

Inductive Reasoning It is the ability to identify a logical sequence in a problem and then
solve the problem.

Deductive Reasoning It is the ability to see the logic and assesses the implication of the art
argument.

Special Visualization It is the ability to imagine how an object would look like its position in
space was changed.

Memory It is the ability to retain and recall past experiences.

Advantages of Intellectual Ability:

 Highly reliable on most occasions.

 Verbal reasoning and numerical tests have shown high validity for a wide range of jobs.
 The validity rises with the increasing complexity of the job.
 Combinations of aptitude tests have higher validities than individual tests alone.
 It may be administered in group settings where many applicants can be tested at the
same time.
 Scoring of the tests may be completed by computer scanning equipment.
 Lower cost than personality tests.

Physical Ability
Physical ability is the capacity to do tasks that demand stamina, desired, strength and similar
characteristics.
It can identify individuals who are physically able to perform the essentials function of a job
without risking injury to others.
Research on the requirements needed in hundreds of jobs has identified nine physical abilities
involved in the performance of physical tasks.
These are -dynamic strength, static strength, trunk strength, explosive strength, extent
flexibility, dynamic flexibility, body – coordination, balance, and stamina.

Factor Description

Dynamic Strength Ability to exert muscular force continuously over time.

Trunk Strength Ability to exert muscular using trunk muscles.

Static Strength Ability to exert force against external objects.

Explosive Strength Ability to expand a maximum of energy in one or a series of explosive

acts.

Extent Flexibility Ability to move the trunk and back muscles as far as possible.

Dynamic Flexibility Ability to make rapid, repeated flexing movements.

Body co-ordination Ability to coordinate the simultaneous actions of different parts of the

body.

Balance Ability to maintain equilibrium despite forces pulling off balance.

Stamina Ability to continue maximum effort requiring prolonged efforts over

time.

Skills and abilities that are needed for government organizations such
as Bangladesh Railway
Working in a public sector can be very demanding and challenging task. Public sector managers
often look for skills and abilities that suits best the government organizations such as
Bangladesh Railway. These skills and abilities are given below.
1. Excellent organization and negotiating skills: In any role in the public sector, you'll be
required to juggle different projects with varying degrees of priority, along with multiple
stakeholders and personalities. You may need to influence others as part of your role or
negotiate with other departments.
2. Creativity and flexible thinking: The ability to adapt to change and think creatively around
problems is a must. Click here to view our guide to creativity.
3. Leadership: In both the Civil Service and in public affairs, you'll be someone who is keen to
learn how to become a great leader - influencing and inspiring those to act around you.
4. Decision-making ability: You'll need to make tough decisions under pressure. You'll be
someone who won't shy away from coming up with solutions, however difficult.
5. Teamworking skills: You'll be working with myriad of different people with varying skills and
qualities. You'll need to know how to motivate them and work alongside them.
6. The ability to work alone: Part of your work will require independent thought and the ability
to come up with solutions on your own. You'll be someone who can remain focused during
these times.
7. Good communication skills, written and oral: Communication is key in this industry - and
you'll be someone who excels in this area. Check out how to write good emails.
8. Enthusiasm and commitment for politics, policy issues and current affairs: To succeed and
thrive in your job, especially this one, you'll ideally have an interest in the sector. Politics and
policy shape a nation and everyone has an opinion. You'll be someone who wants to be on top
of the debate every day.
9. Confidence and drive: There's a host of personalities in this sector and it's highly
competitive. You'll need to have confidence and drive to see things through.
10. Time management skills and the ability to work to tight deadlines: Like many a high-
demanding career, you'll be able to manage your workload and deliver on time.
11. The ability to organise and prioritise your workload: You'll be a natural organiser who can
juggle multiple projects and knows when to focus on what's important. Of course, you'll hone
such skills over time, but you'll be ready to take on the challenge.
12. Interpersonal skills: Because people and communication are at the heart of this sector,
you'll have to have exceptional people skills and enjoy bringing people together on projects no
matter how difficult.
13. Commercial awareness: While not in a commercial sector as such, you'll need to
understand what incentives clients and people in this sector and what impact government
policy and politics has on the wider commercial world.
14. Project management and a logical approach to solving problems: This will be tested at
application stage, but you'll need to be someone with a calm, logical and solutions-focused
approach to problems. You'll know how to see projects through from start to finish and how to
react to or pre-empt problems as they come up.

Recommendations

In order to get the best out of the employee’s ability and improving the attitude of the
employees, Bangladesh Railway can implement following methods:
1. Train Them Well: Offering your employees the opportunity to strengthen their skills or
improve their industry knowledge benefits you as much as it benefits them. They will
use the information they learn from training classes or webinars to elevate the quality of
work they complete for your organization. Help them find appropriate training
opportunities for their positions.
2. Offer Them Adequate Resources: Making sure your employees have the necessary
resources to perform their job well is critical. If an employee doesn’t have the tools he
needs to complete his projects, his motivation to improve his productivity will decrease.
Ask your employees what they need to get their jobs done. If their answers are
reasonable, you should do your best to accommodate them.
3. Practice Effective Communications: You can likely blame miscommunication for several
mishaps that have occurred in your workplace. Knowing how to effectively
communicate to your employees will help you achieve greater productivity, increased
employee morale, and, of course, fewer mishaps. Learn how each of your employees
likes to communicate, and use those methods when interacting with them.
 4. Keep Them Empowered: Research indicates that empowered employees are more likely
to be satisfied in their jobs and stay loyal to their employers. Help your employees feel
empowered by delegating important tasks to them. Let them know that you trust them
with more responsibility, and they will appreciate your trust and try hard to not
disappoint you.
5. Let Them Achieve Work/Life Balance: In addition to projects and deadlines they have to
keep up with at work, employees have responsibilities outside of the office that may
include their family, place of worship or charitable organization. Check in with your
employees to make sure their workloads allow them time to enjoy activities that are not
work related. Granting them time to breathe will keep them positive and productive at
the office.

Conclusion
Attitudes are the established ways of responding to people and situations that have been
learned, based on the beliefs, values and assumptions that a person hold. It is an attitude that
determines how fast a person achieves a goal or how well acquires a skills and knowledge.
Attitudes also provide a sort of framework to solve the problem of employees. Getting success
at anything employees need to have right mindset. Their body language is a result of their
mental attitude. When a person comes in that mood will reflect a message that everyone
understands consciously or unconsciously.
A person’s attitude is the first thing that another person will pick up on in one to one
communication. It is not what happens to a person that counts. It is how that person react to
what happens to that person, especially when a person has unexpected problems of any kind.
Employees can learn and master powerful strategies for keeping themselves thinking positively
and creatively. This will help them in increasing positive attitude. An employee with positive
attitude can create a healthy atmosphere in the organization.
If you are an employee of the government or an organization, you will face the brunt of
employee attitudes everywhere. It is vital to understand the attitude of an employee regarding
their work environment.
The attitude of an employee can impact on their personal and professional life. Employees who
work in a supportive environment, have become more responsive to their managers and
satisfied with their job. Moreover, these employees faced fewer negative attitudes toward their
family and colleagues.
Bangladesh Railway should require well-designed, consistent and suitable policies for building
its employees with the necessary ability, adequate motivation, training and development, and
opportunity to engage in discretionary behavior.
The coordinators and higher authorities should be responsible for this act of maintaining a
good, healthy and lively environment in the institutions. The organizations should also try to
maintain a balance between the employee’s aspirations, expectations and organization’s
output and expectations.