News Desk : dhakamirror.com
Dhaka metrorail service is set to start operating earlier in the morning and later at night to better serve the growing number of passengers.
Service hours will be extended by 30 minutes at both the beginning and end of the day, and the interval between trains will be reduced by nearly two minutes.
Under the new schedule, trains will arrive every 4 minutes and 15 seconds during peak hours, down from the current minimum of 6 minutes. During off-peak times, the wait time of 8 to 10 minutes will also be shortened by two minutes.
This updated system is expected to launch in two weeks, following trial runs that kick off next Friday. Notably, trains will be carrying passengers even during the trial phase, so there won’t be any empty test runs.
Officials from the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), which manages the metrorail’s construction and operation, have indicated that these adjustments will enable the service to function much closer to its full capacity.
Proposed new schedule
Currently, the first train departs Uttara at 7:10 am from Saturday to Thursday. Under the revised schedule, it will depart at 6:40 am. The last train now leaves Uttara at 9:00 pm, but this will be extended to 9:30 pm.
From Motijheel, the first train currently departs at 7:30 am; under the new system it will leave at 7:00 am. The last train now departs Motijheel at 9:40 pm, but will depart at 10:10 pm. Currently, the last train reaches Uttara North after 10:00 pm, but in the new schedule, the last passengers will alight around 10:45 pm.
On Fridays, operations now start at 3:00 pm. Under the new schedule, trains will begin running from 2:30 pm, with services extended by 30 minutes at night.
In the metro rail timetable, peak hours and off-peak hours have been divided into several segments. In addition, on Saturdays and other public holidays, the timing of peak and off-peak hours varies.
– Input from prothomalo.com was used in this article.
