Metro rail starts carrying passengers
Bangladesh's first-ever metro rail started carrying passengers on Aagargaon and Uttar route in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Two trains carrying passengers left Aagargaon and Uttara rail stations separately at 8:00 am.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the service on Wednesday.
Along with the prime minister, 285 people from different strata, including prime minister’s younger sister Sheikh Rehana and cabinet members took the inaugural ride.
According to the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), owning company of metro rail, the service will be operated from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm daily and a train will carry maximum 200 passengers for the time being. Number of trips and passengers will be increased later.
Prothom Alo spoke to two passengers who took the first trip from Agargaon station.
One of them is Nazmul Hasan. He said he came to the station area at 6:00 am, but he was allowed to enter the station after 8:00 am.
Another passenger Shamimul Islam, who works at an IT firm, said previously it took an hour to arrive in Uttra from Agargaon, now metro rail will save his time.
According to the DMTCL, a regular trip on Agargaon-Uttara route would take 10 minutes 10 second.
The DMTCL also prepared a booklet on dos and don'ts on metro rail. DMTCL managing director MAN Siddique urged passengers to follow the rules.
Construction of the MRT Line-6 (Agargaon-Uttara route) began in 2016. According to the project details, initially 10 sets of trains with six coaches will operate on Uttara-Agargaon route.
The second section of metro rail from Agargaon to Motijheel and the third section from Motijheel to Kamalapur railway station will be launched in phases.
The metro rail from Agargaon to Motijheel will be introduced in December next year.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has been constructing the metro rail and providing soft loan for the project.