Metro rail to be ready for commercial operation by 15 Dec
The implementing agency says it will soon write to the Prime Minister’s Office for fixing a date for the inauguration of the country’s first metro rail
About 94.57% of the construction work of the metro rail from Uttara to Agargaon has been completed and the section of the metro rail will be prepared for commercial operation within 15 December this year, its authorities said.
"We are trying to complete all the civil work of this portion within this month," Dhaka Mass Transit Company Managing Director MAN Siddique said on Thursday at a press briefing at his office. He noted that the train will start its blank operation (moving without passengers) in early December.
"We will soon send a proposal to the Prime Minister's Office to finalise the inauguration date," he said.
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MAN Siddique recalled that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hinted earlier that the country's first metro rail will be launched after this year's Victory Day, 16 December.
"The civil work of seven stations out of nine from Uttara to Agargaon section have been completed while the remaining two are in progress as they faced some complications regarding spaces, construction of the entry and exit roads."
In the meantime, testing of trains and training of staff are going on in full swing. Besides, a memorandum of understanding with the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation will be signed on 17 November for the transportation of passengers after getting them off the metro rail, he said.
Siddique further added that the construction work of the first underground metro rail of the country from the Airport to Kamalapur will start with land development soon. "We are going to ink an agreement with the contractor this month and the inauguration of construction depends on the schedule of the prime minister," he told the event, also attended by MRT Line-6 Project Director Md Aftabuddin Talukder.
The monthly progress report of the Dhaka Mass Transit Company revealed that the MRT line 6 project progressed 83.68% overall until October this year, while the Agargaon to Motijheel portion advanced 85.11%. The work for utility verification of the Motijheel to Kamlapur portion is expected to start soon.
The construction of the 20.1 km-long metro rail or MRT Line 6 project started in 2012 with an estimated cost of around Tk22,000 crore. The cost of the project rose to Tk33,472 crore this year as the length of the rail line was extended by 1.16 km – from Motijheel to Kamalapur.
