A group of owners and workers of goods-carrying vehicles today vowed to go for a 48-hour work abstention from September 27 if the government does not meet their 10-point demand within September 26.

The under-construction rail line between Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar would be opened by December next year, said Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan yesterday. Project documents, however, tell a different story.

The group of owners and workers of goods transport, who have been enforcing a 72-hour strike from Tuesday, withdrew their programme yesterday.

A new rail route from Chattogram’s Dohazari to Cox’s Bazar will open on December 16 the next year, Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan said today.

Chittagong Prime Mover, Trailer Workers' Union withdrew their strike at the port this afternoon.

The group of owners and workers of goods transport, who have been enforcing a 72-hour strike from yesterday, has withdrawn their programme today.

A feud between two major factions of road transport owners and workers has led to calling of two separate strikes of goods-laden vehicles in the span of a week.

Train services on Dhaka-Chattogram route remain suspended after a freight train derailed in Tongi, Gazipur this morning.

A large portion of a paved road in Paishka union under Dhanbari upazila has gone to the riverbed, disrupting communication and causing sufferings of the people.

Highway police seized at least 150 three-wheelers, including CNG-run auto-rickshaws and battery-run easy-bikes, from Dhaka-Chattogram and Dhaka-Sylhet highways in Narayanganj today.

Ever since schools started this week, Jayeeta Talukdar, a tenth-grader at Chattogram city’s Dr Khastagir Government Girls’ High School, has found it difficult to get to school in jam-packed public vehicles during rush hour.

Although the Road Transport Act was passed three years ago, its rules have not been formulated yet, preventing the authorities from executing some vital sections of the law which aims to curb crashes and bring discipline to the road transport sector.

Around 45 percent pot bearings, a vital element for load transmission, of Bangabandhu Bridge have been found problematic and require replacement.

The long-awaited opening of the bridge over the Payra river next month will bring relief to people of the country’s southern regions, but the project will also stand as an example of poor implementation of a construction scheme. 

Within six years of joining Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), the bank balance of an assistant director swelled to about Tk 12.84 crore.

A long-awaited railway project for setting up a direct rail line between Bogura and Sirajganj, ultimately shortening Dhaka-Bogura travel distance by 112 kilometres and time by three hours, has finally seen some progress.

The Chinese contractor that has been building the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel under the Karnaphuli river in Chattogram is also set to be responsible for its maintenance and toll collection.

A ferry service that is scheduled to be launched on the Baleshwar river in December this year -- connecting Sharankhola upazila in Bagerhat with Mathbaria upazila in Pirojpur -- is likely to usher in a new era of communications and economic activities in surrounding upazilas of the two districts and beyond.

Another consignment of metro rail coaches with four bogies and two engines reached the Mongla port this afternoon.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today said the World Bank is delaying its decision to finance Bangladesh’s road safety project, despite repeatedly expressing interest in it.