Dhaka Metro Rail

The Dhaka Metro Rail (Bengali: ঢাকা মেট্রোরেল), or simply the Dhaka Metro, is a mass rapid transit system serving Dhaka, the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. It is operated by the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL). Together with the under construction Dhaka BRT, proposed Dhaka Subway and Dhaka suburban circular rail, it is expected to reduce traffic congestion in the city. The metro rail network's only operational line is the MRT Line 6; additionally, MRT Line 1 and MRT Line 5 are under construction, and MRT Line 2 and MRT Line 4 are in the planning stages. It is part of the Strategic Transport Plan outlined by the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA). It has been later reported however that the government may cancel the southern part of MRT Line 5.
The first section of MRT Line 6 commenced commercial operations on 29 December 2022 and the second section on 5 November 2023. The other lines are either in planning or under construction. The third phase, which will have an interchange with Line 1, Line 2 and Line 4, is set to be completed by 2026. Further expansion of MRT Line 6 is expected towards Savar Upazila and Tongi. Passengers will get a 10% discount on the fare for using the MRT Pass or Rapid Pass. MRT line 6 currently operates daily from 7:30 am to 9:00 pm and on Fridays from 3:30 pm to 9:00 pm (7:10 am to 9:40 pm for MRT Pass/Rapid Pass holders).
To implement Dhaka's 20-year-long Strategic Transport Plan, the government of Bangladesh invited the Japan International Cooperation Agency to conduct a primary survey and feasibility study on the transport system of Dhaka in 2009–2010. In 2012, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved the project. A loan agreement between the Bangladeshi government and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency was signed in January 2013.
Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited, the agency responsible for the implementation of the first metro line, was formed in January 2013. The General Consultant, namely the NKDM Association, commenced work beginning in February 2014. In June 2013, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited was established by the government to implement the Metro Rail Lines across the city. Dhaka metro rail was opened by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 29 December 2022.
The deal for the construction of the MRT Line-6, costing US$2.8 billion, was signed by the government of Bangladesh with the Japan International Cooperation Agency on 20 February 2013. Construction began on 26 June 2016 with an inauguration ceremony presided over by the prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Civil engineering work was done by the Italian-Thai Development Public Company Ltd. and China's Sinohydro Corporation Ltd. JV, and a Tokyo-based construction company developed the depot's land.
Construction work was divided into eight packages, covering aspects like depots, stations and rolling stock.
When construction commenced in 2016, the Metro Rail was expected to open by the end of 2019. By 2018, this expectation was still held to, but by 2019, completion of phase one was delayed to December 2021. In 2018, the second phase was expected to be complete by December 2020. Eventually, these dates were pushed back, with phase one opening in 2022 and phase two expected in 2023. The main reason for the delays from 2020 to 2022 was the COVID-19 pandemic.
Originally, the project cost was Tk 219,850 million but it was later increased by Tk 114,870 million to Tk 334,720 million, although the full Project is not yet completed. The first route, originally projected to start from Uttara, a northern area of Dhaka, to Sayedabad, in the south of the capital, was eventually extended north to Uttara and truncated south to Motijheel. The original length which was 20.10 km (12.49 mi) has been increased by 1.16 km (0.72 mi) to 21.26 km (13.21 mi). It was planned to have 16 stations originally but it has been increased to 17 stations.
The project was originally reported to be a 27 km (17 mi) underground metro rail line. It was later confirmed to be an elevated and underground metro rail project. In 2014, it was reported that 56 trains would run on the metro system. It was confirmed that 24 vehicles would run on the MRT Line 6. It was planned to have six lines.
MRT Line-6's train made its first run on 29 August 2021. It traveled from Diabari Depot to Mirpur 12. It successfully made its second run on 29 November 2021. It traveled from Uttara to Mirpur 10. The line's train made its longest trial run on 12 December 2021. It traveled from Uttara to Agargaon. The train ran for after invigoration has been run 4 stations along with mirpur to Agargaon station after several months other stations are open11.3 km (7.0 mi). It ran at 100 km/h (62 mph) for 9 km (5.6 mi) and ran at 15–20 km (9.3–12.4 mi) for the rest.
Line 6 consists of 16 operational elevated stations of 180 m (590 ft 7 in) length each, and 20.1 km (12.5 mi) of electricity-powered light rail tracks. All of line 6, save for the depot and some of its accompanying LRT, will be elevated above current roads. Mostly, this will be above road medians to allow traffic flow underneath, with stations also elevated. The Dhaka Metro is projected to serve more than 60,000 passengers per hour by 2022 with headways of approximately 4 minutes. The entire route can be travelled in less than 40 minutes at a speed of 100 km/h (62 mph), and is expected to drastically reduce the number of private cars on Dhaka's streets as well as their potentially 7-hour-long standstills. The system is using magnetic contactless Integrated Circuit Ticketing, commonly known as smart cards. Platform screen door (PSD) barriers used at the platform level will increase safety and increase efficiency. Trains of six spacious air-conditioned cars will arrive every four minutes going each way at each of the 16 stations.
The project is being managed by the Communications Ministry's Dhaka Transport Co-ordination Authority, and a consortium of foreign and Bangladeshi firms known as the NKDM Association is acting as the project's general consultant. The NKDM Association consists of Nippon Koei Japan and Development Design Consultants (local consultant - Bangladesh).
Japan-based Kawasaki Heavy Industries made the rolling stock for Dhaka Metro with the latest technology and necessary security equipment. The body of the air-conditioned trains are made of light and durable stainless-steel.
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The construction of the 19.872 km (12.348 mi) long underground line, MRT Line 1 (Airport Route), is set to begin in December 2022, costing US$6.1 billion after many delays. Its deadline is set for 2026. It will start from Shahjalal International Airport and stop at Kamalapur Railway Station. The line will have 12 underground stations. Stations will be constructed at Shahjalal International Airport, Shahjalal International Airport Terminal 3, Khilkhet, Nadda, Notun Bazar, North Badda, Badda, Aftabnagar, Rampura, Malibagh, Rajarbagh and Kamalapur Railway Station. MRT Line 1 will have an interchange with MRT Line 6, MRT Line 2 and MRT Line 4 at Kamalapur Railway Station. There will be an interchange for the MRT Line 5 Northern Route and the MRT Line 1's Purbachal route at the Notun Bazar. Hatirjheel East of MRT Line 1 and Aftab Nagar West Station of MRT Line 5: Southern Route will have an Interchange. Above all, the airport will have an interchange of MRT Line-1 with BRT Line 3. The government will provide US$1.5 billion while the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will fund US$4.6 billion. The use of soundless TBMs will make it possible to build MRT Lind1's underground infrastructure without disrupting the daily lives of residents and businesses.
MRT Line 1 (Purbachal Route) will be 11.369 km (7.064 mi) long and it will have stations at Notun Bazar, Nadda, Bashundhara, Joar Sahara, Mostul, Purbachal Cricket Stadium, Purbachal Centre, Purbachal East and Purbachal Terminal. Of these stations, Notun Bazar and Nadda would be underground as a part of the airport route.
MRT Line 2 will connect Gabtali with Chittagong Road. The stations on this route are Gabtoli, Dhaka Uddan, Mohammadpur, Jhigatola, Science Laboratory, New Market, Azimpur, Palashi, DHK Medical College, Gulistan, Motijheel, Kamalapur, Manda, Dakkhingaon, Damripara, Signboard, Vuighar, Jalkuri and Downtown Narayanganj in the Main Line and Gulistan, Golap Shah Mazar, Nayabazar and Sadarghat in the Branch Line. The length of this line will be 22 km (14 mi).
MRT Line 4 will connect Kamalapur Railway Station with Narayanganj with elevated and underground lines (planned). Length of this line will be 8 km (5.0 mi). According to a survey conducted by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), MRT Line-4 will run parallel to an existing line which will be converted to a dual gauge railway line by the order of the Bangladesh Railway Authority. The stations in this line are Kamalapur, Sayedabad, Jatrabari, Shonir Akhra, Signboard, CTG Road, Kanchpur and Madanpur.
Construction of MRT Line 5 (Northern Route) will begin in September 2023. MRT Line-5 (Northern Route) will start from Hemayetpur of Savar Upazila and end at Vatara (at Bashundhara), costing US$4.85 billion. It expected to be 20 km (12 mi) long in total. Northern route will be 13.5 km (8.4 mi) underground and 6.5 km (4.0 mi) elevated. It will have 14 stations, of which 9 stations will be underground. Those underground stations will be constructed at Gabtoli, Darus Salam, Mirpur 1, Mirpur 10, Mirpur 14, Kachukhet, Banani, Gulshan 2 and Notun Bazar. 5 stations will be elevated. 5 elevated stations will be constructed at Hemayetpur, Baliarpur, Bilamalia, Amin Bazar and Vatara (at Bashundhara R/A). MRT Line 5 (Northern Route) will have depot at Hemayetpur of Savar Upazila.
The MRT Line 5 (Southern Route), which is about 17.4 km (10.8 mi) long, is expected to be operational between 2027 and 2030. It will connect Gabtoli with Dasherkandi. The stations on this route are Gabtoli, Technical, Kallyanpur, Shyamoli, College Gate, Asad Gate, Russel Square, Karwan Bazar, Hatirjheel, Tejgaon, Aftabnagar, Aftabnagar Centre, Aftabnagar East, Nasirabad and lastly Dasherkandi. It is possible to interchange with MRT line 5 (Northern Route) and MRT line 2 at Gabtoli, and with MRT Line 6 at Karwan Bazar.
MRT Line 6 has 17 elevated stations each 180 meters long and 21.26 km (13.21 mi) of electric light rail track. All Line-6 and some attending light rail track, except the depot, have been elevated above the existing roads to allow traffic flow below.
This line consists of five phases, of which only the first and second are currently operational.
DMTCL constituted a Fare Fixing Committee to fix the fare of the MRT Line 6, in a meeting held on 10 January 2021, the committee fixed ৳2.40 per kilometer as the proposed fare. The proposed rent was determined based on the break-even point. According to the proposal, the fare from Uttara North to Motijheel was supposed to be ৳48.25. On 6 September 2022, Obaidul Quader announced a fare of ৳5 per kilometer and a minimum fare of ৳20. This finalized minimum fare is higher than Kolkata and Delhi Metro in India and Lahore Metro in Pakistan.
On 17 December 2022, the Secretary General of Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association demanded to reduce the fare per kilometer and the minimum fare by half considering the interests of the passengers. On the other hand, on 26 December 2022, the Institute for Planning and Development demanded a 30% reduction in fares to encourage passengers to use the line. In a press conference held the next day, the managing director of DMTCL mentioned electricity price and profit as the reason for fixing higher fare rate.
In a meeting of the Standing Committee of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) held on the same day, Nazrul Islam Khan claimed that the fixed fare conflicted with the Metrorail Act, 2015. In the meeting, he criticized the government's decision stating that metro fares are higher than bus fares in the country. On 29 December 2022, Obaidul Quader stated that fares are not an issue here and that Dhaka's fixed fares are low when compared to mass rapid transit systems in Thailand and Malaysia. On 24 August 2023, Muhammad Abdul Mannan, the planning minister, said that the government is making efforts to reduce the ticket fares so that it is possible for common people to travel by mass rapid transit.