Bangladesh’s long wait for its first-ever metro rail is going to be over by December 2022 as work on the project has gained momentum despite disruptions by coronavirus pandemic, said MAN Siddique, managing director at Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd.

Four train sets _ each comprising six air-conditioned coaches _ have already reached Bangladesh from Japan and five more sets are scheduled to arrive by next September, Siddique told UNB.

There will be a total of 144 coaches for the 24 train sets that will run on 21km-route from Uttara to Kamalapur railway station via Agargaon, Farmgate, Dhaka University campus and Motijheel. There will be a total of 17 stations, according to project documents.

“Work on the project is now moving on at a fast pace despite the Covid-19 situation in the country,” Siddique said exuding confidence.

The overall average progress of the construction of the metro rail is about 68%.

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As per the initial construction plan, 87.8% of the third phase of the Uttara to Agargaon part is done.

The first train set arrived in Bangladesh on 23 April. After that 19 types of tests were conducted on it at the DMTCL depot in Uttara. A test run of 500 meters was also successfully completed with it inside the depot on May 14.  The 2nd train set also went through similar procedures after reaching Dhaka on 1 June.

“Five more train sets for the Metrorail will reach Bangladesh by next September. By 2022, all trains will be running and Metrorail will be officially launched in December 2022,” the managing director said,

He said that two train sets are already in Dhaka and  two more sets currently at Mongla port will arrive here in the third week of August.  “As such, there are now 4 train sets in Bangladesh,” he said.

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Although a portion of the Dhaka metro rail project was supposed to be finished in 2019-20 and was later rescheduled for 2021, it did not materialise as works were delayed due to Covid-19 wreaking havoc across the country.

On this question Siddique said, “See, when the project was approved, the initial plan was to launch it by 2024. So if we keep that in mind, we are still two years ahead,” he said.

To put things into context, the original implementation period of the project was 2012-2024.

However, seeing the progress, the government directed that metro services from Uttara to Agargaon be made operational by 2019, and from Agargaon to Motijheel by 2020.

But after a failure to reach the deadlines, the authorities in May 2019 said the project would be launched on December 16, 2021 to mark the celebration of the golden jubilee of the country’s independence.

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In an unexpected turn of events, construction had to be suspended for over two months last year due to Covid-19 which resulted in further delay.

Although no fatalities reported so far, as many as 668 people working in the project tested positive for coronavirus till May 31.

When asked what the authorities are doing to mitigate the risk of the workers, Siddique said that they have already provided two vaccine jabs to all personnel working in the project.

He also ensured that the health guidelines are strictly maintained during the work.

Metrorail coaches will be air-conditioned, he said. Each coach will have 4 doors on either side.

The train will stop at 17 stations. One side will open when the train arrives. A separate staircase won’t be needed to get on the train.

He also added that the stations would consist of 3 floors and be as modern as it gets with all required facilities.

MAN Siddique hoped that the traffic congestion in Dhaka would be reduced to a great extent once metro rails run in the capital.

According to DMTCL sources, the Kawasanik-Mitsubishi Consortium are constructing 24 train sets for the Dhaka Metro Rail Project.

Asked about metro rail fare, Siddique said that a committee has been formed to fix a reasonable fare considering every factor.

The original length of the metro rail route was 20.1 km from Uttara to Motijheel, but it has now been extended by 1.16km to Kamalapur Railway Station.