‘Dhaka’s first-ever metro rail set to start by Dec 2022’

GBNews24 Desk//

Bangladesh’s long wait for its first-ever metro rail is going to be over by December 2022 as work on the project has gained momentum despite disruptions by coronavirus pandemic, said MAN Siddique, managing director at Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd.

Four train sets _ each comprising six air-conditioned coaches _ have already reached Bangladesh from Japan and five more sets are scheduled to arrive by next September, Siddique told UNB.

There will be a total of 144 coaches for the 24 train sets that will run on 21km-route from Uttara to Kamalapur railway station via Agargaon, Farmgate, Dhaka University campus and Motijheel. There will be a total of 17 stations, according to project documents.

“Work on the project is now moving on at a fast pace despite the Covid-19 situation in the country,” Siddique said exuding confidence.

The overall average progress of the construction of the metro rail is about 68%.
As per the initial construction plan, 87.8% of the third phase of the Uttara to Agargaon part is done.

The first train set arrived in Bangladesh on 23 April. After that 19 types of tests were conducted on it at the DMTCL depot in Uttara. A test run of 500 meters was also successfully completed with it inside the depot on May 14. The 2nd train set also went through similar procedures after reaching Dhaka on 1 June.

“Five more train sets for the Metrorail will reach Bangladesh by next September. By 2022, all trains will be running and Metrorail will be officially launched in December 2022,” the managing director said,

He said that two train sets are already in Dhaka and two more sets currently at Mongla port will arrive here in the third week of August. “As such, there are now 4 train sets in Bangladesh,” he said.

Although a portion of the Dhaka metro rail project was supposed to be finished in 2019-20 and was later rescheduled for 2021, it did not materialise as works were delayed due to Covid-19 wreaking havoc across the country.