Thai Ambassador to Bangladesh Makawadee Sumitmor on Thursday said Dhaka Metro Rail, scheduled for partial opening by December this year, will help facilitate travel from Uttara to Motijheel much to the comfort of city commuters.  

“MRT is a very good thing and it helps uplifting the quality of urban people’s life. I’m impressed to see the quality of work,” he told reporters after visiting the project site in Uttara.

The ambassador said they had faced problems about traffic in the past but once they implemented MRT in Thailand it helped a lot.

“We’ve a lot of cooperation in economic affairs and this project is one of the flagship projects,” she said adding that the quality of work is up to the standard.

The Royal Thai Embassy organized the “Tracing Thailand @ Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project (MRT)” activity as part of the events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Thailand.

Ambassador Sumitmor led a team of journalists to visit the construction site of Line-6 of the Dhaka MRT, which is the first metro rail line in the country spanning 19.83 km from Uttara to Motijheel.

Project officials earlier said the Uttara-Agargaon route of the metro rail will open for passengers on December 16 this year, while up to Motijheel by December next year.

Also read:Thailand favours increased connectivity and trade with burgeoning Bangladesh, says its envoy

The project is divided into eight contracts from CP -01 to CP-08 during the construction phase.

“Tracing Thailand@Dhaka MRT” is an endeavour of the embassy to let the public know more about Thailand’s involvement and contribution in the development of Bangladesh, said the ambassador.

The envoy and the journalists went to CP-03 site in Uttara which is constructed by Italian-Thai Development Company Plc. (ITD), one of the leading construction companies from Thailand.

She said her country is interested to invest more in Bangladesh and Thai companies involvement in Bangladesh’ development projects.

The delegation was welcomed by Virat Kanta, the project manager, who explained that ITD was awarded CP-03 & 04 in 2017, with a value of Tk 37 billion.

The project comprises 9 elevated stations and viaduct from Uttara to Agargaon. ITD also entered into joint ventures with foreign partners to work in other contracts.

These are ITD-Sinohydro Joint Venture that is building the warehouse and depot in Uttara North (CP-02) and Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Company-ITD Joint Venture that is responsible for 4 elevated stations and viaduct from Karwan to Motijheel (CP-06).

Overall, ITD created approximately 6,000 jobs since the construction started, said the Thai Embassy in Dhaka.

Also read: Thai Embassy organises Songkran Festival 2022

The Dhaka MRT Development Project is a project of the government of Bangladesh under the supervision of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited.

According to the plan, MRT Line 6 will be extended for another 1.17 km to connect with Line-1 at Kamalapur rail station.

ITD has been involved in constructing numerous infrastructure projects in Thailand and abroad such as Suvarnabhumi Airport, Rupsa Bridge in Khulna, an integrated passenger terminal at Kolkata International Airport and the widening of parts of National Highway Route NH-31C in West Bengal.

ITD also supported the renovation of classrooms at Mariali Government Primary School which is one of the two schools in Bangladesh participating in the Children and Youth Development Project under the patronage of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.