Bangladesh enters metro rail era

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

Bangladesh’s commuting system entered a new era on Wednesday as prime minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the first ever metro rail service in the capital.

She inaugurated the operation of the first phase of the project, Uttara to Agargaon, from Uttara sector-15 playground.

Marking the occasion, the prime minister also unveiled a commemorative stamp and a banknote.

Read more

What does a ride on the metro cost?

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The Uttara-Agargaon section of the country’s first metro rail will be inaugurated tomorrow. Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA), the government agency responsible for fixing metro rail fare, has published the full list of metro rail fares. The minimum fare was fixed at Tk 20 and the maximum fare for travelling from … Read more

Metro rail can save Tk 3,500cr every year

The country’s first metro rail, once launched, will save around Tk 3,500 crore annually in terms of travel time and vehicle operation costs, metro rail authorities said.
The electricity-run trains to be operated on the Uttara-Motijheel route – formally known as Mass Rapid Transit Line-6 or MRT Line-6 – will reduce the number of other vehicles

Read more

Dhaka metro rail formal test run started

Bangladesh’s first ever metro train service has started its test run on the viaduct in the capital.
The formal test run started from Uttara at 11:54am. on sunday after Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader inaugurated the event by waving a green flag at the depot in Dhaka’s Diabari..
The minister told reporters that after a total of 14 months of performance test – which includes five months of trial run – the commercial operation of metro rail in Dhaka will begin by the end of 2022.
“We will inaugurate three

Read more

Metro rail: Rolling out in the open on August 29

The authorities are all set to start operating of a metro train on the viaduct on Sunday, touching a new milestone in the country’s first ever metro rail project.
On that day, a train will run from Uttara to Mirpur Pallabi station at 10 am. As a precautionary measure, the metro rail run from Diabari to Pallabi station in the city on Friday. Metrorail runs from 8 am to 10 am in the heart of the city. There was no problem in running the metro rail.
Metrorail Project Manager ABM Arifur Rahman said that Metrorail has been run as

Read more

Metro rail project to get underway

Ministry expects no further delay, hopes to finish by 2019
The metro rail project has finally gathered momentum after nearly three-year delay over change of route with the government deciding to appoint a consultant to prepare a detailed design of the metro rail from Uttara third phase to Motijheel.
Several international companies that have been short-listed for the job now await the

Read more

Metro railway project hits snag

Delay in JICA loan signing feared
The proposed elevated metro railway project in the capital with Japanese financial assistance has hit a snag as the communications ministry is yet to get approval for it from the ministry of planning, officials said.
The delay in getting approval from the planning ministry is attributed to bureaucratic exercise which raised doubt about the availability of $1.8 billion in credit from the

Read more

Metro to follow revised route

PM sees no damage to JS complex
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the modified metro rail route would not ruin the main architectural design of the parliament complex.
Hasina told the weekly cabinet meeting that the modified route would not cut through the preserved area of the structural masterpiece designed by Louis I Kahn in the

Read more

BAF defends revised route

Metro Rail
BAF defends revised route
Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) has said the revised route of proposed metro rail, also known as Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)-6, is a right decision of the government.
The revised route would in no way harm public interest, rather it would serve the very purpose of easing traffic congestion of the capital in a better way, an Inter-Service Public Relations

Read more

RAJUK gives land for metro rail depot

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) has provided 22 hectares of land in Uttara Phase III, for construction of a metro rail depot, said a source at the agency.
The Dhaka Transport Coordination Board (DTCB), which had carried out negotiations with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), on the metro rail project, was given the

Read more

Metro Rail Project: Air force concern unfounded

Experts object to its route change proposal; financier upset with delay, change
Bangladesh Air Force’s objection to the Bijoy Sarani portion of the proposed 22-km metro rail on a plea that it will hinder the operation of Tejgaon airfield is unfounded, experts have said.
The experts also rejected an alternative route, suggested by the air force, running from Sangsad Avenue to Khamarbari through a stretch of Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban complex, saying it clashes with another

Read more

Save JS complex from metro route

Architects, environmentalists ask govt, suggest relocation of military sites from city 
The air force’s pressure to realign the proposed metro rail route through Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises is not acceptable, leading architects and city planners said at a media briefing in the capital yesterday.
They instead demanded relocation of all military installations from the core of the capital to make way for solutions to Dhaka’s transport problems, and planned urban development

Read more

Now Louis Kahn’s JS masterpiece at stake

Air force’s objection forces metro rail to change route; new proposal awaits PM’s approval; financier Jica yet to respond
In the face of pressure from Bangladesh Air Force, the government has decided to change the course of the much-talked-about metro rail, and take it through the parliament complex.
About 55 metres of land on the eastern side of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban will be required for setting up of some pillars of the metro rail, which will seriously damage the aesthetic view of Louis I Kahn’s

Read more

Metro rail stops at air force red signal

Bijoy Sarani link seen as risky for security; financier Jica upset; meeting adjourned for today
Construction of the much anticipated metro rail looks uncertain as the government might bring another modification in its alignment in the face of the air force’s objection to the current alignment running across Bijoy Sarani.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), keen to provide 80 percent of the $1.8 billion project cost as a soft loan, hinted to the communications ministry in February that it might not even give the fund if the alignment is modified again, said the ministry sources. Jica already

Read more

Metro rail project ready to roll

Loan negotiations, detailed design next month
After a hiccup over a partial change in the route, the $1.7 billion metro rail project has gained momentum as its major financier Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) is set to start loan negotiations with the government next month.
Experts will begin an exercise next month to prepare a detailed design for the project. It will be

Read more

Metro rail in 4 years possible

Study finds a ride from Uttara to Jatrabari will take only 45 minutes, Tk 50
A commute by metro from Uttara to Jatrabari will take about 45 minutes and cost Tk 50, according to studies conducted as part of the government plans for improved public transport in the capital.
The planned electric railway will carry some 60,000 people an hour at peak times. Commuters will have to pay Tk 2.50 for each kilometre.
Prof Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, consultant for the government’s metro rail project, briefed journalists about the study findings after a meeting with Finance Minister AMA Muhith

Read more

Metro rail route faces modification

The communications ministry is going to modify a part of the first-phase route of Dhaka metro rail considering commuters’ convenience.
The route from Uttara Third Phase to TSC of Dhaka University via Pallabi, Farmgate, Sonargaon Hotel will remain unchanged. From TSC, the route will divert towards Curzon Hall, the

Read more