Bangla rly union stops work

Empty platforms and stranded passengers as all trains are cancelled on Tuesday, in Dhaka —AFP

Trains were cancelled across Bangladesh on Tuesday as railway staff went on a strike for higher pensions and other benefits, affecting tens of thousands of passengers and freight transport.

Saidur Rahman, acting president of the Bangladesh Railway Running Staff and Workers Union, said the strike was called after a meeting with the interim government. headed by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, failed to reach a deal late Monday.

Rahman said the strike would continue indefinitely if the government does not accept their demands. The state-run railway system carries some 65 million passengers per year in a densely populated nation of 170 million people. It employs about 25,000 people and operates a network of over 36,000 km.

The main Kamlapur Railway Station in the capital, Dhaka, was mobbed by hundreds of disappointed passengers who were not aware of the strike. Many waited for hours before going home. As the country's railway advisor visited, passengers shouted complaints.

Dhaka-based Jamuna TV station reported that railway workers protested in Chattogram, the country's second largest city. The southeastern city has the country's largest seaport, and the massive garment industry relies on trains to bring goods to it for export. The industry earns about USD 38 billion a year from exports, mainly to the United States and the European Union.

The Yunus-led interim government has been running the country since August, when former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India amid a student-led uprising and ended her 15-year rule. The interim administration is struggling to restore order amid reports by the global lending agencies such as the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank of slower economic growth.