Metro rail extension to Kamalapur 85pc complete, service set to begin in July
Sohel Rana, an employee of a private company, lives in Farmgate of the capital city. During this year’s Durga Puja holiday, he was travelling by train to his village home in Mohanganj. He took the metro rail from Farmgate station to Motijheel and then took an auto-rickshaw to reach Kamalapur Railway Station.
The rickshaw journey from Motijheel to Kamalapur cost him Tk 40 whereas, the metro journey from Farmgate to Motijheel had cost him just Tk 28. Apart from the additional expense, it involved the hassle of getting on and off the stations, changing the mode of transportation and the extra delay.
While speaking to Prothom Alo at around 12:00 pm last Wednesday, Sohel Rana said he had reached Motijheel from Farmgate by metro rail in very little time. If the metro service had extended to Kamalapur, he said, both the time and cost of his journey would have been lower.
The metro rail as a mode of transportation is becoming increasingly popular in Dhaka. Around 100,000 passengers travel through Motijheel station alone every day. From there, they disperse to different destinations, including Kamalapur, the country’s main railway station.
Sources concerned with the project say some changes are being made to the plan. Under the revised schedule, trial runs from Motijheel to Kamalapur are expected to begin in February. Commercial services carrying passengers could start in early July.
Against this backdrop, those concerned believe that extending the metro rail to Kamalapur will attract even more passengers. Currently, work is under way to extend the line from Motijheel to Kamalapur.
The Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) is responsible for constructing and operating the metro rail in Dhaka. The company had earlier planned to begin trial runs on the extension to Kamalapur in January, with passenger services scheduled to start in April.
However, sources concerned with the project say some changes are being made to the plan. Under the revised schedule, trial runs from Motijheel to Kamalapur are expected to begin in February. Commercial services carrying passengers could start in early July.
Visiting the site it was found that track-laying work is under way on the Motijheel–Kamalapur section. Electrical work is also continuing. However, the delivery of some equipment from Japan, including the fare collection system for the station, may be delayed. This could push back the opening slightly. Some work at Kamalapur metro station, including the installation of lifts also remains unfinished.
According to DMTCL records, a total of 313.5 million (31.35 crore) passengers had travelled by metro rail by the end of August since the service began. Company officials say the daily passenger count now consistently exceeds 450,000.
When the project was planned, the estimated daily ridership between Uttara and Motijheel was 500,000. The current number of passengers is therefore close to the original projection. Once the extended section to Kamalapur opens, daily ridership is projected to reach 677,000.
*More to follow...