Research Proposal On

A comparative study on the railway

transport system in Bangladesh and Japan
Course

Pa-311(Basic Concepts of Social Research)

Submitted to

Dr. Sadik Hasan

Associate Professor
Department of Public Administration
University of Dhaka

Submitted By
Sadman Bin Safayet
Roll: 125
3rd year, 5th Semester
Department of Public Administration
University of Dhaka
Date: 31st August, 2020
 A comparative study on the railway transport
system in Bangladesh and Japan

Abstract:
This study will focus on identifying the problems plaguing the Bangladesh Railway and how
these problems can be solved by taking lessons from the highly efficient railway transport system
in Japan. The study will be of exploratory nature and will follow both quantitative and qualitative
designs. Through this study we will learn how Japan was able to create such a highly efficient
rail system and how we can replicate the same results.

Introduction:
Railway is a safer and also faster mode of transport than road. Moreover, railway has the merit of
one-seventh of the CO2 emissions and one-tenth of the energy consumption of trucks and buses.
Bangladesh Railway is a government run organization. It had a total of 2,877.10 route-km which
is divided across two zones (east and west) by the Jamuna river (Railway Master Plan, 2019).
Bureaucratic structure persists in the Bangladesh Railway. Because of this many decisions taken
in this organization are politically influenced. This organization is expected to serve both as a
commercial enterprise and as a public utility service. This duality of role is hampering
Bangladesh Railway’s progress. As the role of this organization is not clearly defined so it is
struggling to identify its purpose. Run in an inefficient way this organization’s revenue is always
in the negative. Bangladesh Railway has been subsidized through deficit financing and Public
Service Obligation (PSO) (Islam, 2015). Bangladesh railway has an inventory of Tk 250 crore.
This huge inventory of almost 33,000 parts needs an appropriate amount of human resource for
maintenance. Overstocking of inventory is currently costing the government huge maintenance
fees. While Bangladesh is struggling with its railway sector, Japan has built a railway sector
currently considered the most efficient in the world. Japanese railway sector was revolutionized
by the Japanese National Railway Reform in 1987. Before this reform Japan’s railway was also
running in deficit and debt. Through this reform Japan fully privatized its railway sector.
Japanese National Railways (JNR) was split and transferred to six passenger companies. These
companies were able to operate their rail transport while retaining the infrastructure. Through the
privatization of their railway Japan was able to introduce corporate structure in their railway
management. This meant that their railway system was no longer politicized and decisions were
taken in the best interest of the organization. This reform also introduced competition to the
railway sector which our country currently lacks. Because of competition companies were urged
to improve their product otherwise they won’t be able to earn revenue. This study will mainly
focus on analyzing Japan’s railway reform and how Bangladesh can improve its railway sector
by taking lessons from Japan.

Framing of Research Question:

Bangladesh Railway is currently in a very difficult place. It is not able to earn profit and also
unable to fulfill its role as a public utility service. With an example to look up to Bangladesh
Railway can aim to strive for efficiency by identifying its faults. This research mainly aims to
introduce Bangladesh to an efficient railway system from which it can take lessons and improve
its own railway system. With this aim in mind the question that this study hopes to answer is:

• How can Bangladesh improve its railway system by following Japan’s example?

Objectives:
This study has three main objectives. These are:

• Analyzing Japan’s railway reform project.

• Identifying major problems which are hindering Bangladesh Railway’s progress.
• Recommending various initiatives which will help Bangladesh to improve its railway
sector by following Japan’s example.

Literature Review:
A number of studies have been conducted on Bangladesh railway. These studies have mainly
focused on customer satisfaction, identifying problems persisting in our railways management,
exploring problems in Bangladesh Railways parts procurement system, exploring the possibility
of sustainable railway development and integration of railway with other modes of transport.
Belayet Hossain has identified six factors which influence the level of customer satisfaction in
our country. These are: staff behavior, security, refreshment, lighting, information and basic
facilities. To attract more passengers he concludes that the above mentioned services are to be
improved (Hossain & Islam, 2013).

Bangladesh Railway follows a traditional style of management. Lack of modern management

styles and proper precautions to tackle the present dynamic world is hurting this sector. Our
country’s railway is also facing a shortage of skilled workers along with overstocking of rail
parts. Overstocking of inventory is currently costing the government huge maintenance fees. A
considerable percentage of the locomotives in our railway system have passed its economic
service life (Islam, 2015). Non availability of the spare-parts is a major issue in the locomotive
maintenance works. That is why the procurement of locomotive spare-parts is crucial and
challenging for the Stores Department of Bangladesh Railway. Our country has achieved fast
expansion of the road network but this has in turn created a tradeoff with other modes of
transport among which the most affected is railways. Bangladesh government has proposed some
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and sustainable transport is one of them. As railway in
Bangladesh is safer, more energy efficient & environment-friendly, comfortable and reliable than
other modes of transport so it is a principal candidate for fulfilling our sustainable transport
scarcity. But to achieve this goal a proper re-orientation and development of our railway system
is needed (Rahman, 2019). Though many studies have been done on Bangladesh Railway no
study has addressed the issue of privatizing our railway sector. Moreover, no research paper has
directly compared our country’s rail infrastructure with another foreign country’s railway
system. The significance of my study is justified in the fact that this study will address the issue
of privatizing our railway sector and also compare our country’s rail infrastructure with Japan.

Through privatization Japan was able to adopt various strategies to enhance their rail
infrastructure. Increasing the number of stations and the frequency and speed of trains,
improving the design of the trains, operating sightseeing trains and giving ownership of
infrastructure to train operating organizations on long term lease were some of these strategies.
Japan was able to operate its trains at relatively lower prices and also earn a profit because of its
high population density (Ishii & Ram, 2019). Bangladesh can aim to reinvigorate its ailing
railway sector by developing strategies centered around its high population density.

Research Methodology:

Design
This study will be of exploratory nature and both qualitative and quantitative designs will be
followed. Because of this data will be collected through two different strategies. The quantitative
design will focus on identifying the problems persisting in our railway sector while the
qualitative study will aim to improve our railway sector by drafting a viable development plan.

Sampling
The population for collecting the quantitative and qualitative data will be different. Unit of
analysis for this study will be government officials and public respondents. For a more in-depth
insight into the research problem I will be selecting government officials in the railway transport
sector as sample for qualitative data. For quantitative data, people who have been to Japan will
be my sample. I will be using purposive sampling for both units of analysis which falls under
non-probability sampling. I am using purposive sampling for collecting quantitative data as I
already have some predefined characteristics which the sample group must fulfill. The
population for quantitative study can’t be randomly sampled and they are also hard to reach. By
using purposive sampling I will be able to collect data from my desired sample group. The
sample size for my quantitative study will be 25. As there are many government officials
working in the railway sector so it is quite impossible to interview all of them in such limited
time and short notice. Through purposive sampling I will select 10 government officials who are
working in the railway sector from whom I will collect the necessary information.

Methods
For collecting quantitative data I will use survey method by utilizing close-ended questions. The
questions will be multi-chotomous in nature. First few questions will be introductory i.e. age,
gender etc. Then there will be questions comparing our railway sector with that of Japan’s. The
questions will try to identify the problems persisting in our railway sector.

Qualitative data will be collected through interview method. Interviews will be taken on the
phone and also through email. Secondary data will be collected through document analysis.
Various journals and articles will be evaluated and expressed.

Outcome:
After collecting the data I will be able to identify the major problems which are hindering our
railways progress. The findings from the questions will be represented graphically. Secondary
data collection will help me analyze Japan’s railway reform. By interviewing government
officials working in the railway sector I will be able to gain practical insight into our railway
sector and also learn about future plans for this sector’s development. Recommendations from
these government officials will help me to draft a more viable plan to improve our railway
sector.

Limitations and Weaknesses:

• The sampling process for this research is not completely flawless. Purposive sampling is
highly prone to researcher bias. It is also difficult to defend the representativeness of the
sample in purposive sampling.
• Close-ended questions greatly limit the choice for respondents as they are forced to
choose from the options provided by the researcher.
• The sample size for the research could have been bigger but because of monetary
restrictions and lack of adequate time it is not possible.
 References
Field, C., & James, J. (2019, January). Japanese railways: How does the
UK rail network compare? Global Railway Review.

Hossain, B., & Islam, M.S. (2013, April). Determinants of Customer

Satisfaction on Service Quality of Railway Platforms in Bangladesh: A
Study on Chittagong and Dhaka Railway Platforms. Journal of Business
Studies.

Ishii, Y., Ram, S., & Xu, K. (2019, May). Messages for railway systems
based on 30 years’ experience of Japanese national railway privatization.
Asian Development Bank Institute.

Islam, A. (2015, Februaruy). Practices and Challenges in the Procurement

of Goods of Bangladesh Railway: A Case Study on Locomotive Spare-
parts Procurement. BRAC Institute of Governance and Development
(BIGD) BRAC University, Dhaka.

Islam, S. (2015, February). Role of maintenance management of rolling

stock in Bangladesh Railway: A study to assess effectiveness and
efficiency. BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) BRAC
University, Dhaka.

Kurosaki, f. (2018, September). A study of vertical separation in Japanese

passenger railways. World Conference on Transport Research Society.

Rahman, S. (2019, June). Bangladesh Railway: Perspective for

Sustainable Transport in Bangladesh. The Guardian.

Van De Velde, D.M. (2017, March). Learning from the Japanese railways:
Experience in the Netherlands. Policy and Society.