The Daily Star reports that at least a dozen intercity trains were stranded, and rail lines linking the north and south were blocked by sit-in protests and barricades.

Striking workers demonstrated at train stations in most major cities, with some protests turning violent. Protesters set the Fouzdarhat station in Dhaka on fire, and agitated passengers manhandled staff at the Kumira station in Sitakunda and at the Rajshahi station.

Protesters forced rail officials and signal workers from offices across Bangladesh, bringing local and intercity trains to a standstill. No trains moved in and out of stations in major cities, including Chittagong, Rajshahi and Saidpur.

The 12-hour strike was called by unions to protest plans to privatize state-run Bangladesh Railways.