PM opens country's first-ever metro rail service

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday  inaugurated the country's first ever elevated metro rail service.

She opened the 11.73 km part of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-6 of the metro rail project from Diabari to Agargaon by unveiling its plaque at Diabari in the city.

Prime Minister's younger sister Sheikh Rehana was present at the inaugural function.

The premier will also release a commemorative bank note of TK 50 to mark the opening of the metro rail. She will later address a civic rally at the Diabari Playground in Uttara here.

The prime minister will take the first official ride from Diabari of Uttara to Agargaon after buying a ticket.

Mariam Afiza will be the first operator of the metro train as the general people can start riding it from tomorrow (December 29).

Initially, the metro train will run from 8 am to 12 noon every day from Uttara to Agargaon stations without any stoppage.

State-owned Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) will operate 30 double decker buses to transport passengers from and to metro rail stations.

Of those, 20 buses will be operated on Agargaon-Motijheel route via Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, Shahbagh and Gulistan while 10 buses will run from Uttara's House Building to Uttara's North station at Diabari via Abdullahpur.

Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), a government-owned company, is implementing the metro rail projects.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has been constructing the metro rail and providing soft loan for the project.

The construction work of the MRT Line-6 began in 2016. The second section from Agargaon to Motijheel and the third section from Motijheel to Kamalapur railway station will be launched in phases.

The metro rail from Agargaon to Motijheel will be introduced in December next year.

It will be able to carry 60 thousand passengers per hour and half a million passengers per day and the trains will arrive at each station every four minutes.

Bangladesh is set to embark on a new era of commuting with a new mode of transport which is by now unseen on the land - the elevated metro rail of Dhaka.

It will reduce immensely the public sufferings by transporting more passengers in limited time with providing comfort to the commuters.

Traffic congestion in the capital will be reduced after complete operation of the metro rail as it will also increase revenue collection.

According to the project details, initially some 10-set of train having six coaches will run from Uttara to Agargaon.

The staying time of the train at a station is yet to be decided.

At each station, the train will wait untill the boarding and alighting of passengers is completed. Each train can run at a speed of 100 to 110 km with 2,300 passengers. However, the speed will be lower in areas with bends.

After assuming power in 2009, the Awami League government took various initiatives to reduce public sufferings by easing traffic congestion in the capital.