Bangladesh Railway Class 2000 is the earliest

meter-gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, l ...

diesel electric locomotive class of Bangladesh Railway. These locomotives have been in service since 1953 which make them the oldest running locomotives in the history of Bangladesh Railway. A total of 40 locomotives of this class were imported. Most of these locomotives are no longer in service as only 7 of them are in running condition.

Builders details

The Class 2000 locomotives were built by General Motors Diesel at its London, Ontario plant, Canada. These 40 locomotives came to the

Eastern Bengal Railway The Eastern Bengal Railway (full name: "Eastern Bengal Railway Company"; shortened EBR) was one of the pioneering railway companies that operated from 1857 to 1942, in Bengal and Assam provinces of British India. History Formation The Eastern ...

in 3 phases. They were: * 1953: 2000–2009 * 1954: 2010–2025 * 1956: 2026–2039 These locomotives were painted and delivered in

yellow-black livery before changing to red and then to green/yellow-green after the

Independence of Bangladesh Independence of Bangladesh was declared on 26 March 1971, celebrated as Independence Day, from Pakistan. The Independence Day of Bangladesh is celebrated on 26 March when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the Independence of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh ...

in 1971.

Technical details

The Class 2000 is an 1100 hp

Locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

. The Electro Motive Division export model of his locomotive is EMD B12. It uses a 12-cylinder EMD 567 diesel prime mover. The wheel arrangement of this locomotive is A1A-A1A. The Class 2000 locomotives have a similar specification to the Vitoria-Minas Railroad

Estrada de Ferro Vitória a Minas The Rede Ferroviária Federal, Sociedade Anônima (RFFSA, pronounced as ''Refesa'') () was the State-owned company, State-owned national railway company of Brazil created from ''Brazilian Federal Law #3.115'' on March 16, 1957, after several rail ...

locomotives of Brazil. The Bangladesh Railway specification of this locomotive is 'M.E.G -11'. Here - M stands for meter-gauge, E Stands for diesel electric, G stands for

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

and 11 stands for locomotive horsepower (x100).

Usage

In the early days, Class 2000 locomotives were heavily used for prominent Bangladeshi trains like Ulka Express, Mohanagar Express,

Parabat Express Parabat Express (Train no. 709/710) is an intercity train which runs between Dhaka (capital of Bangladesh) and Sylhet. Parabat Express has been considered one of the prestigious and luxurious trains since the inception of intercity train in Ban ...

etc. Currently, class 2000 locomotives are being used for freight trains. Due to several mechanical constraints, they are not used in passenger service unless an emergency situation occurs. The Class 2000 locomotive is considered a lifeline for freight services of Bangladesh Railway. It pulls containers,

oil tankers An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crud ...

and other departmental freight trains regularly across the country.

Running locomotives

* 2015 * 2021 * 2022 * 2023 * 2025 * 2030

Maintenance

The Class 2000 Locomotives are maintained by Diesel Workshop at Pahartali,

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

. These locomotives are not allowed to cross

Bangabandhu Bridge Bangabandhu Bridge, also known as the Jamuna Multi-purpose Bridge ( bn, যমুনা বহুমুখী সেতু ''Jomuna Bohumukhi Setu'') is a bridge opened in Bangladesh in June 1998. It connects Bhuapur on the Jamuna River's east b ...

due to mechanical restrictions. Therefore, they cannot go to Central Locomotive Workshop (CLW) at Parbatipur,

Dinajpur Dinajpur ( bn, দিনাজপুর ) is a city and the District headquarters of Dinajpur district situated in Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1786. It is located 413 km north-west of Dhaka in Bangladesh. It is bounde ...

for maintenance.

References