Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) will provide security for the long-awaited launch of the Metro rail service in capital Dhaka, which is all set to open to traffic formally.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the first phase of the Metro – spanning Uttara (Diabari) to Agargaon, on December 28.

Though it has been decided that a specialised new police unit named “Mass Rapid Transit Police" or “MRT Police” will be formed to ensure security and safety checks at every station of the metro rail, the DMP will do the job in the interim.

The process to form the MRT police unit is running late for some procedures, including the final approval of the Secretaries' Committee under the Cabinet Division.

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Contacted, additional DIG (O&M) of Police Headquarters (PHQ), SM Mostak Ahmed told UNB that the draft proposal for formation of the specialised MRT police unit is now at the Cabinet Division for the Secretaries’ Committee's final approval. The draft proposal was scheduled to be discussed Monday at the Secretaries’ Committee.

“The process of forming the MRT Police will start after getting the approval from the committee,” Mostak added.

Replying to a question, he said the Metrorail authority has sent a letter to the DMP requesting security until the MRT police unit is functional. The DMP will look into the matter, he added.

Contacted, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of DMP's media wing Md Faruque Hossain said the DMP has been providing security for the Metro Rail project ever since construction works. As the metro rail authority has already requested the DMP for security from the beginning of formal operation on December 28, local thana police along with reserve force will provide security, he said.

The Metro rail authority has requested around 3000 police members but the DMP will provide an adequate number to ensure security and safety of the stations, the DC (Media) added.

During a presentation on Metro rail at Ganobhaban in September 2019, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina underscored the need for the formation of the separate police unit for ensuring the security of the metro rail.

Later, the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), under the Ministry of Road, Transport, and Bridges Ministry, submitted the proposal to the Police Headquarters in the same month for the formation of the MRT police.

Following the proposal, the Police Headquarters had sent a draft organogram to the Home Ministry’s Public Security Division for forming the new unit. After scrutiny, the division later sent the draft to the Public Administration Ministry, from where it went to the Finance Ministry and finally to the Cabinet division.

One deputy inspector general (DIG) of police will head up the proposed force, primarily to be formed with 357 members. The number will be increased in phases, AIG (O&M) Mostak said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally inaugurated the construction work on the country's first metro rail service on June 26, 2016.

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The Metro Rail is expected to begin transporting passengers to nine stations between Uttara and Agargaon, and have its route extended up to Motijheel, during 2023.

Sources at the DMTCL said that in the first phase, a limited number of trains carrying fewer passengers will operate for a limited period in the morning and afternoon and the trains will run at less than full speed during this phase of accustomation.

In the beginning, the trains will not stop at all stations. They will leave the Uttara station and stop at Pallabi, and then go on to Agargaon without stopping at any of the stations in between. Initially, 12 trains have been kept ready for operating the Uttara to Agargaon route - 10 will run regularly and two will be kept on standby.

According to a Revised Strategic Transport Plan (RSTP), DMTCL plans to introduce six metro rail routes in Dhaka by 2030, with a total length of 128.74km serving a network of 104 stations -53 underground and 51 elevated. Construction on the six metro rail lines is underway accordingly.

The MRT police unit will be formed to ensure the security of the entire network in future, when upto 5 million passengers will use the service everyday.