Over 3,000 acres of railway land under illegal occupation: ministry

More than 3,000 acres of Bangladesh Railway's land has been illegally occupied, the railways ministry told a parliamentary watchdog on Monday.

Of the railway’s 63,072.91 acres of land, 3,024.84 acres are currently occupied illegally, the ministry said at a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on the railways ministry at the Jatiya Sangsad.

The railway uses 42,009.52 acres for its own operations and has leased out 25,083.14 acres.

Lease income in the last fiscal year stood at 87.72 crore taka, according to the ministry.

Some 1,991 land-related cases are pending.

The figures, however, differ from those on the ministry’s own website, which, as of an update on May 1, 2025, puts the railway’s total landholding at 61,860.28 acres, illegally occupied land at 3,678.83 acres, and land available for lease at 14,473.24 acres.

What’s the recovery plan?

The ministry told the committee that drives to evict occupiers and remove illegal structures are ongoing.

Unused railway land will be put to planned use through leases or licences under the land management policy, depending on the type of application, it said.

The ministry also said it had recently introduced railway estate management software, which it expects to help ensure the planned use of vacant land and support the recovery of occupied plots.

In the western zone, special committees led by divisional estate officers in the Pakshi and Lalmonirhat divisions will identify occupied land within the next three months, after which illegal structures will be removed in phases, the meeting was told.

The railway will also coordinate with district administrations and police in the western zone to conduct special drives against drug-related crimes suspected to take place on railway land, the ministry said.

Bangladesh Railway is currently divided into eastern and western zones. Committee members suggested splitting it into more zones as the rail network expands, sources said.

Ticket scalping discussed

The meeting also discussed persistent complaints of ticket manipulation in the online sale of intercity train tickets.

The ministry outlined several measures, claiming they would resolve the problem of black-marketing in future.

Intercity tickets are now released online all at once, 10 days before the journey. Several committee members opposed this practice, proposing instead that 10% of tickets be released each day, sources said.

They argued that most passengers do not plan trips 10 days ahead and that a staggered release would give touts fewer opportunities.

Committee member Muhammad Azizur Rahman called for the early completion of the Satkhira–Navaran rail line and the construction of a train wash pit at Benapole, among other demands.

The meeting, chaired by committee chief Mohammad Ali Asgar, was attended by committee members State Minister Habibur Rashid, Abdul Mohit Talukder, Israt Sultana Elen Bhutto and Muhammad Azizur Rahman.