The Dhaka Metro Rail will be operating from dawn to dusk on the Uttara-Motijheel route from tomorrow (Saturday).
As per the announcement, a new schedule of metro rail (Mass Transit Route-6 or MRT-6) from Saturday is from 7 am to 8:30 pm.
Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) Managing Director (MD) MAN Siddique gave this information at a press conference organized at its office in the capital on Thursday.
As per the new time schedule, the first train from Uttara will leave at 7:10 am and the last train from Motijheel will leave at 8:40 am.
The managing director of DMTCL said, "We promised to adjust the time from Uttara to Motijheel by March. But, we decided to operate Metro rail from morning to night after talking to the passengers at these two stations (Uttara and Motijheel) for the last 15 days."
Metrorail currently operates from Uttara to Agargaon from 7 am to 8 pm. And from 7 am to 11:30 am it carries passengers till Motijheel station.
At present, 1.30 lakh to 1.56 lakh passengers travel in metro rail trains every day. Earlier, Dhaka University and Bijoy Sharani stations were opened on December 13, later Karwan Bazar and Shahbag stations were opened on the last day of the same month. With this, from December 31, metro rail started operation with all 16 stations.
Metrorail stations are Uttara-Uttar, Uttara Center, Uttara South, Pallabi, Mirpur-11, Mirpur-10, Kazipara, Shewrapara, Agargaon, Bijoy Sharani, Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, Shahbagh, Dhaka University, Secretariat, Motijheel and Kamalapur. However, construction work on the Kamalapur section is now underway. The authorities have said that this part will be launched by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, commuters of metro rail have expressed their joy knowing the new schedule of their most convenient means of transport. They said, from tomorrow they will not have to wait for hours on the road on their return to their home after their office.
Abul Hasnat, who works at the secretariat while talking to this correspondent said, "During morning it took only 15 minutes at the most to reach the secretariat from Shewrapara. But in the afternoon he had to face the same traffic jam on the road that took more than hours to reach home after office. But from Saturday, I can return home early through metro rail."
Mohammad Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, secretary general of the Bangladesh Passengers Welfare Association told Bangladesh Post, "Extending metro rail operating time is undoubtedly a good decision, especially for the people travelling on the Uttara to Motijheel route. With this, commuters will be able to travel from one part to another part of the city spending less time."
However, terming metro rail as the transport of rich people he demanded to reduce its fare and make it a mass people transport for real.
It is to be noted, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Uttara to Agargaon section of Metrorail on 28 December 2022. The next day, the Metrorail was opened to the public from 29 December.
The Agargaon to Motijheel section was inaugurated on November 4 last year. Then step by step all the stations from Uttara to Motijheel were opened.
