The government has decided to scrap the Gazipur Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project after 14 years of construction and expenditure of Tk2,811 crore, with the planned dedicated bus service never becoming operational.
 
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Sunday. Under the plan, stations and concrete lane dividers along the airport–Gazipur corridor will be dismantled, while the existing route will be converted into a conventional highway.
 
A letter issued by the Road Transport and Highways Division on Monday directed the authorities to transform the approximately 20-kilometre corridor into a regular three-to-six-lane highway. The government also plans to widen two flyovers from two lanes to four.
 
Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit Company Limited, established to operate the service, will be dissolved, and its activities transferred to the Roads and Highways Department. The authorities have been asked to report progress on the closure process within 15 days, including steps to resolve legal complications involving development partners.
 
Launched in 2012 under the Awami League government, the project was initially estimated to cost Tk2,040 crore, with completion scheduled for 2016. Three revisions subsequently raised the estimated cost to Tk4,268 crore.
 
A further proposal submitted last year sought to increase the project cost to Tk6,598 crore and extend the deadline until 2029. However, the proposal was not approved.
 
The project was designed to transport around 25,000 passengers daily through dedicated bus lanes. Instead, prolonged construction narrowed one of the country's busiest highways, causing years of traffic congestion and hardship for commuters. Seven people also died in construction-related accidents.
 
A panel of experts from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), led by Professor Samsul Haque, recommended scrapping the project, citing systemic failures, including flawed design, inadequate technical scrutiny and poor coordination among the agencies involved.
 
"Even if the BRT buses were launched, Gazipur residents could only travel up to the airport and would then have to change buses again, which is not practical," Samsul told this correspondent.
 
The panel also called for accountability among the consultants, officials and agencies responsible for the project's planning and implementation.
 
The decision to scrap the project, however, could trigger further financial liabilities. The Bangladesh Institute of Planners previously estimated that dismantling the infrastructure and compensating contractors could cost more than Tk1,000 crore.
 
A citizens' platform in Gazipur has opposed the cancellation, arguing that around 97 per cent of the construction work has already been completed.
 
Md Shamsul Haque, president of the platform, said the group would formally protest the government's decision.
 
The project's cancellation brings an end to a troubled infrastructure initiative that was intended to ease traffic congestion and improve public transport between Gazipur and Dhaka. Instead, after 14 years of construction, repeated cost revisions and significant disruption to commuters, the promised rapid bus service will remain a project that never carried a passenger.