The full Uttara-Motijheel metro rail route is going to be operational as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to inaugurate the Agargaon-Motijheel segment today.

Officials and city dwellers say this will add a new dimension to Dhaka’s transport system. Those who commute to and from Motijheel every day are eagerly awaiting the opening of the full route spanning around 20 kilometres.  

Agargaon-Motijheel metro opens todayAbdur Razzak, who lives in Mirpur’s Pallabi and works at a private bank in Motijheel, told the Daily Sun the opening of the metro rail’s Uttara-Agargaon segment last year did not benefit those working in the capital’s financial hub much.      

“My commute now takes three to four hours. But once the new route opens, I can travel between Pallabi and Motijheel faster. It will bring big changes in my daily life. I am enthusiastically waiting.” 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be the first passenger to travel the new route. The whole Uttara-Motijheel route has 16 stations. Of them, nine are operational in the Uttara-Agargaon segment. Metro runs from 7:30am to 8:30pm on this segment.      

On the other hand, the Agargaon-Motijheel part has seven stations, but only three – Farmgate, Secretariat, and Motijheel – will be operational in the first phase. Trains will run between 7:30am and 11:30am initially.   

Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited Managing Director MAN Siddique told the Daily Sun the metro rail dream has come true.

He said they are now able to offer a better mode of public transport to the city dwellers, adding the opening of the full metro route will bring great changes in Dhaka’s transportation system.

“Commuting hours will reduce while traffic congestion will ease to a great extent. All the stations on the Agargaon-Motijheel route will be opened gradually within three months while train schedules will also expand,” added Siddique.

A survey showed the launch of MRT line-6 would result in the saving of Tk8.38 crore and Tk1.18 crore in terms of daily travel time cost and vehicle operation cost, respectively.

Straphangers will be able to comfortably travel by metro as the coaches come with a width of 9.5 feet. After the full route opens, the trains will transport 60,000 passengers per hour and travel at a speed of 100 kilometres an hour.   

Dhaka’s transport system remains poor, though the authorities concerned have so far taken various measures to improve it. A 2018 study jointly conducted by the Roads and Highways Department and Dhaka Transport Co-ordination Authority said the system was below standards while the state of accessibility, quality, and reliability of public transports was poor.

Experts say metro will improve Dhaka’s transport system but there are also challenges. Md Hadiuzzaman, a transport expert and civil engineering professor at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, told the Daily Sun he sees metro as a positive addition to the transport system and it will benefit those living in Uttara and Mirpur.

He said it is very important to ensure that more and more passengers will choose metro as its operating cost is high.

“Besides, the authorities have to improve public transport facilities on the roads beneath the metro. This is because 60% of the metro passengers will arrive in stations using public transports while only 5% will use cars.”

Metro services are expected to be extended to Kamalapur in December 2025. The length of the whole route will then be 21.26 kilometres.  

The metro project received the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council’s approval in December 2012 while construction began in June 2016. The initial estimated cost was Tk21,985 crore, with Japan International Cooperation Agency giving Tk16,595 crore and Tk5,390 crore coming from the government exchequer. The project cost later rose to Tk33,471.99 crore.