Railway revenue up almost 12% amid higher collections

Bangla Press Desk: The Bangladesh Railway earned a total of Tk2,066.38 crore in the 2025–26 fiscal year, which ended on 30 June, compared with Tk1,845 crore in 2024–25, marking an increase of Tk221 crore or 11.9%.

The largest increase came from the passenger sector, where revenue rose by Tk256 crore compared with the previous fiscal year, it said in a press release.

However, revenue from freight services declined by Tk8.34 crore due to a shortage of locomotives. Revenue from railway land and property increased by Tk3 crore, while income from leasing optical fibre rose by Tk11.52 crore. On the other hand, revenue from the transportation and commercial sector (including vending licences and miscellaneous income) fell by approximately Tk24.34 crore.

Bangladesh Railway's total operating expenditure—including salaries and allowances, pension payments, railway track maintenance, rolling stock maintenance, and other operational costs—stood at Tk3,955 crore. As a result, the operating ratio (expenditure-to-revenue ratio) improved to 1.91, down from 2.09 in the previous fiscal year, indicating that the gap between income and expenditure has narrowed.

However, Bangladesh Railway spends around Tk1,000 crore annually on pensions, which, it argues, should not be treated as an operating expense because pensions are not directly related to railway operations, it added in a press release.

Excluding pension expenditure, the operating ratio stands at 1.43 (Tk2,955 crore in operating expenses against Tk2,066.38 crore in revenue). This means that, excluding pensions, operating expenditure exceeded revenue by 43%.

Bangladesh Railway is a state-owned public transport service, and its fares are set at subsidised rates. Passenger fares have not been increased since 2016, even though the costs of maintenance materials, imported equipment (due to the higher US dollar exchange rate), employee salaries and allowances, pensions, and fuel have all risen significantly. Given that fares have remained unchanged for the past ten years, revising them to a reasonable level in line with current market conditions and the fares charged by other modes of transport would substantially reduce the gap between revenue and expenditure.

Therefore, Bangladesh Railway argues that it should not be regarded as a loss-making organisation, it noted in its press release.