Staff Correspondent:

Managing Director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) MAN Siddique said that the first metro rail of the country will be opened to the public in the last week of December as previously announced. Initially, metro rail will run on the line from Uttara to Agargaon.

He made the disclosure during a press briefing in yesterday.

He was attending the agreement signing ceremony between Japan’s Tokyu Construction and local Max Infrastructure to develop the depot area for  MRT-1 – the country’s first-ever underground metro rail – for which physical work is expected to start next month.

MAN Siddique said, initially, the 11.73 km viaduct will be opened from Uttara to Agargaon of Metrorail. There will be 9 stations to pass this way. The construction material of the metro rail from Uttara to Agargaon has been moved. Especially concrete and steel road traffic barriers. This traffic has caused the pedestrians in Berea to suffer. They are mainly used for safety while constructing the pillars of Metrorail.

According to the DMTCL official, about 94.57% of the construction work on the metro rail’s Uttara-Agargaon portion has been completed up to 31 October.

Concluding integrated test by November, trial operation of trains to start in early December. But all work will be concluded by 15 December.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier hinted that the landmark infrastructure will be inaugurated after the country’s Victory Day (16 December).

In 2012, the mass rapid transit (MRT) Line 6 project worth Tk22,000 crore was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) to develop the 20.1km long metro rail from Uttara to Motijheel.

The cost of the project rose to Tk33,472 crore after including another 1.16 km extension from Motijheel to Kamalapur.

The metro line, which will come into full operation in June 2024, will be able to transport nearly five lakh passengers a day, or 16,000 per hour in any one direction.

As the inauguration of the metro service at the Uttara-Agargaon portion nears, DTMCL signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the BRTC to operate shuttle bus services from Agargaon to Motijheel, to reduce the hassles of metro rail passengers.

In September, the government declared the fare chart of the metro rail at TK5 for each kilometer with a minimum fare of Tk20.

Metro rail commuters will get a 10% discount by paying fares on the rapid pass or MRT pass which will be issued by the DMTCL.