Railways have made significant progress in the last 12 years. Of these 330.15 km construction of new railway line, launch of 117 new trains, launching of 102 closed stations are notable. Factories need to be modernized to reap the benefits of this development. At present, the three main factories of Bangladesh Railway is Syedpur Railway Factory, Parbatipur Central Locomotive Factory and Pahartali Carriage and Wagon Factory have an average manpower shortage of about 60 per cent. Besides, development of railway factories is being hampered due to budget deficit, shortage of spare parts, lack of modern machinery, unsafe working environment. For the long-term development of the railways, the factories have to be renovated as per the railway master plan. We have to import modern quality parts and machines and also hire workers. Speakers expressed this view at a virtual seminar titled "Modernization of Railways" organized by Poribesh Bachao Andolon (PBA) and Work for a Better Bangladesh Trust on June 29, 2021 at 4.00 pm and 11.00 pm.

Abu Naser Khan, chairman of the Poribesh Bachao Andolon, presided over the discussion. Borhan Uddin, Chief Mechanical Engineer, Bangladesh Railway; Gauss Piari, Director of Work for a Better Bangladesh Trust; Kamal Uddin Khan, Electrician, Parbatipur Diesel Shop, and Abdur Razzak, President, Syedpur Railway Workers Union were present as guest speakers. Md. Atiqur Rahman, Project Officer, Work for a Better Bangladesh Trust, presented the keynote address.

Md. Atiqur Rahman said in the main article that the factory has a close relationship with passenger service and transportation of goods. Currently, the manpower crisis in the railways has intensified. Most of the machines used as well are expired. Out of 431 machines in Pahartali Carriage and Wagon Factory, more than 200 machines have expired and out of 787 machines in Syedpur Factory, 448 machines are over 50 years old. According to the railway master plan, 474 locomotives, 5,143 coaches and 6,439 wagons will have to be procured for transporting passengers and goods in the next 30 years. For this 10 new workshops have to be constructed. Besides, 4 existing workshops need to be reformed and modernized. Therefore, it is not possible to develop the railway by keeping it in the dark without modernizing the railway factory.

Borhan Uddin said the present government is giving more priority to railways. Modern carriages and locomotives are being added to the railway fleet. This requires skilled and experienced manpower. Plans have been made to hold two new workshops in Narayanganj and Rajbari. If we can recruit manpower in a short time, the factories will be able to keep up with its efficiency.

Gauss-Pierre said the growing demand could be met by repairing a large number of locomotives, carriages and wagons every year if the railways were provided with adequate budget, necessary manpower, modern machineries and on-demand raw materials. It is even possible to build carriages, locomotives and wagons for export. This will save the country crores of money. This will accelerate the trend of economic development of the country along with the development of railways.

Kamaluddin Khan said the Parbatipur diesel locomotive factory had 575 sanctioned posts at one time. Now 299 people have been done. Only 127 of them are working. In the 2019 financial year, a budget of Tk 85 crore was sought from the factory but only Tk 55 crore was allocated. The manpower crisis in the factory has now intensified due to lack of continuity in manpower recruitment. Abdur Razzak said the number of manpower sanctioned at Syedpur Railway is 3902. But 1623 people are working. Vacancies have for 2279 people. In 2021, 150 people will retire.