Metro rail expected to open at end of Dec

The country’s first-ever elevated metro rail is expected to be inaugurated partially in the last week of this month from Uttara to Agargaon as the much-awaited metro rail service is ready for commercial operation, reports BSS. 

"We have completed all sorts of construction works and now the last time preparation is going on in a full swing. We are expecting to launch the metro rail service by the last week of this month as per the Prime Minister's convenient time," said MAN Siddique, Managing Director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL).

He said this while briefing journalists at Metrorail Exhibition Information Centre (MEIC) in the capital on Monday on the occasion of a press tour jointly organised by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and MEIC to apprise the journalists of the latest update on the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-6.

Chief Representative of JICA, Bangladesh Ichiguchi Tomohide also spoke on the occasion while Project Director of MRT Line-6 Md Aftabuddin Talukder was present at the programme, among others.

Siddique said the train is now operating a system trial or service trial and it will operate a blank operation (moving without passengers) from December 18 ahead of the launching of the service.

"A total of 12 trains are ready for operation, but initially 10 will run having six coaches each train while the remaining two will be on standby to ensure an uninterrupted metro rail service if any one of the operational trains faces any problem or technical glitch," he added.

The DMTCL managing director said primarily the train will run for a specific period with a limited number of passengers and the frequency between two trains will be a little bit high, but the metro rail service will go on the full pledged operation by two or three months of its inception, complying with the international standard.

Noting that the metro rail service will be launched up to Motijhil by December 2023 and Kamlapur by June 2025, Siddique said a train from Uttara north station will reach Agargaon station within 20 minutes while it will take only 40 minutes to reach Kamlapur station once the service goes on a full operation.

Speaking on the occasion, Ichiguchi Tomohide of JICA said the launching of the operation of MRT Line-6 from Uttara to Agargaon this year is a great achievement of the golden jubilee of the relationship between Bangladesh and Japan.

He also said the metro rail service will play a pivotal role in reducing traffic congestion and environmental pollution on a greater scale in the capital city while the service will provide a safe travel environment for women.

Later, the journalists were taken to the Uttara north station where the officials concerned showed and briefed the process of riding on a metro rail in practical.

Earlier at the outset of the programme, two documentaries were screened on the metro rail project and how to ride on the train and behave in the station area.