Staff Correspondent Works of installing rail tracks in first ever metro rail project is progressing fast. The government has decided to inaugurate it after completion of the total construction of the scheme from Uttara to Motijheel marking 50 years of liberation on December 16 in 2021. Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DTMCL) is now working to install rail tracks and connect electricity from Uttara to Agargaon portion of MRT-6 Line. Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader inaugurated the installation of metro rail’s tracks in Dhaka's Diabari area on January 1. DTMCL is also working to connect electricity to run the rail. The authority is working to construct stations of metro rail.
The construction of the 20.1 km metro rail project from Uttara to Motijheel has been expanded by one kilometre which will end at Kamlapur. City commuters will be able to reach their respective destinations smoothly traveling by the metro rail. The entire capital will be brought under the metro rail network. Metro Rail Line-6 consists of 17 elevated stations with each having 21.1 km of electricity-powered light rail tracks, and projected to serve more than 60,000 passengers per hour from both sides with waiting time of approximately 43 seconds. The metro rail will have 17 stations – at Uttara North, Central Uttara, Uttara South, Pallabi, Mirpur-11, Mirpur-10, Kazipara, Shewrapara, Agargaon, Bijoy Sharani, Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, Shahbag, Dhaka University, The Secretariat, Motijheel and Kamlapur.
The metro will take 40 minutes to reach Kamlapur from Uttara. The station will be high as a three-storey building and will be accessed by escalators and lifts. Ticket counter and other facilities will be available at the second floor. The authorities said 12 trains will run on the routes. As part of the government’s plan to free the capital of nagging traffic congestion, five rail routes will be constructed in the city’s different areas in phases by 2030.
JICA has agreed to finance the project at 0.01% interest rate payable in a period of 40 years, sources said. Once the metro rail scheme is completed, it will provide the most time-efficient, reliable, safe, comfortable and environment-friendly solution to the severe traffic congestion. It will also transform Dhaka into a more active, commuter-friendly, and sustainable city, experts said. Of total cost Tk 22000 crore, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will give Tk 16595 crore while the rest of the fund will come from the government exchequer.
The cost of the metro rail has increased by Tk 1505 crore. The implementation agency working behind Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-6, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL) is working restlessly in a bid to unveil the Uttara-Agargaon section of the project. Earlier, JICA conducted a primary survey and feasibility study on the city’s 20-year-long Revised Strategic Transport (RSTP) project undertaken by the government. In 2012, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the project. A loan agreement between Bangladesh Government and JICA was signed in January 2013.
