Metro rail now stops at 12 stations, next four in 3 months

The metro rail from Uttara to Motijheel would stop at 12 stations in the first phase.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina opened the Agargaon-Motijheel section and travelled to the commercial hub on Saturday.

In this section, the trains will run for only four hours, from 7:30am till 11:30am.

The metro rail traveled from Uttara to Motijheel with common passengers yesterday, Sunday.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina had opened the metro rail route between Uttara and Agargan on 28 December last year.

Metro rail is running on this route from 7:30 am to 8:00pm. However, the movement of metro rail on the Uttara-Agargaon route continued till 8:00pm.

The minimum fare for travelling on metro rail is Tk 20. And, to travel from Uttara to Motijheel, one would have to pay the maximum fare, Tk 100. The fare to travel from Uttara to the secretariat is Tk 90 while the fare of traveling from Uttara to Farmgate is Tk 70.

Meanwhile, the fare for travelling from previously opened North Station (Diabari) to Agargaon station is Tk 60. And, separate fares have been fixed for the seven stations that come in between them.

The metro rail authorities have said that the metro rail would stop only at Farmgate, secretariat and Motijheel, these three stations at first.

There are plans to open Bijoy Sharani, Karwan Bazar, Shahbagh and Dhaka University’s TSC- these four stations in phases within the next three months. Among these, the TSC station is probably going to be opened first and then the Karwan Bazar station. 

Meanwhile, passengers are getting on and off the metro rail at all nine stations on the Uttara-Agargaon route. There are a total 16 stations along the way from Uttara to Motijheel.

The work to expand the metro rail line from Agargaon to Kamalapur is underway. It could be opened in 2025 and when it does, another station will be added then.

Sources at the metro rail authorities say that the distance between Uttara and Motijheel is about 20 kilometres. It takes on average 17 minutes to travel from Uttara to Agargaon now.

Once all the stations have been opened, it would take roughly 38 minutes including the wait time for passengers to get on and off, to travel from Uttara to Motijheel.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the metro train movement towards Motijheel station, waving a green flag at Agargaon station Saturday around 2:30pm.

She also signed the green flag there. Later she boarded the metro rail by cutting the ribbon and it started for Motijheel at 2:40pm.

Expressing her feelings during the inauguration ride, Sheikh Hasina said that her government has taken this initiative of introducing metro rail so that everyone can travel easily, save working hours, get relief from traffic congestion and reap economic benefits, reported BSS.

The prime minister extended her gratitude to the Japanese government, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), road transport and bridges ministry as well as all the people and workers involved with the metro rail project.

The train carrying the prime minister reached Motijheel station at about 03:06pm.

Earlier, Awami League general secretary and also road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader received the prime minister on her arrival at the Agargaon station.

Before boarding the train, the prime minister collected her ticket from the vending machine at the Agargaon station.

Upon arriving at the Motijheel station, the prime minister inaugurated the construction work of MRT Line-5 (Northern route), which will be a 20-km line from Savar’s Hemayetpur to Bhatara via Gabtoli, Mirpur-10 and Gulshan. Most of this line will be built underground.

Notably, the cost of building the 21.26 kilometres metro rail line from Uttara to Kamalapur has been estimated at Tk 334.73 billion (33,473 crore).