The trains on the northern routes ran late throughout Wednesday as demonstrators blocked tracks at a railway station at Charghat upazila in Rajshahi for about two and a half hours, demanding a scheduled stop for intercity trains at the station.
Their demonstration at Nandangachhi railway station caused the trains on northern routes to get stranded at different spots, causing them to run behind schedules.
Several hundred demonstrators blocked the rail tracks from about 6:15am to about 8:45am at Nandangachhi railway station, suspending rail communications between Rajshahi and the rest of the country.
At the time, the protesters also stopped Khulna-bound intercity train Sagardari Express which was due to cross Nandangachhi station, while two other intercity trains remained stranded at two different stations.
The protesters withdrew themselves at about 8:45am as requested by Bangladesh Nationalist Party Rajshahi district unit convener Abu Sayed Chad, who assured them that intercity trains would not be allowed to pass through Nandangachi station unless it was made a regular stop. Protesters also issued a June 17 deadline to meet their demand.
Shahidul Alam, station manager of Rajshahi Railway Staion, told 抖阴精品 that due to the blockade, Dhaka-bound Modhumoti Express Train and non-stop Banalata Express Train were stranded at Sardaha Road Railway Station and Hariyan Railway Station respectively.
He said that the blockade caused Dhaka-bound Silkcity Express Train to delay by one hour and ten minutes.
Passengers on these stranded trains were seen waiting for hours.
Nearly a century-old Nandangachhi railway station was established at Barkatpur in Nimpura union in 1929, according to the railway authorities.
But the government suspended its operation in late 2015.
Before closure, the station used to have a workforce of twelve people, including station master, ticket master, porter, points-man and gateman.
Currently, only one porter is employed there with only two local trains stopping at the station.
After the withdrawal of the blockade, Silkcity Express on the Dhaka-Rajshahi route and Lalmoni Express on the Lalmonirhat-Dhaka route ran around two hours behind schedules and Rangpur Express on Dhaka-Rangpur route was delayed by an hour as of Wednesday evening.
