Metro Rail will make Dhaka closer to people living in its immediate vicinity. It will change the landscape of the metropolitan city of 20 million people. It will also change the demography in a city where 45,000 people live in per square kilometer area.
Motijheel was called the heart of the Dhaka city but thanks to Metro Rail, each station is being developed as a single heart. So, centering the ‘Mass Rapid Transit’ MRT-6 route’s 17 elevated stations, residential and commercial areas are undergoing major changes. Currently, it takes two hours to travel from Uttara to Kamalapur station; the Metro Rail service will bring that down to 40-45 minutes only. During peak hours, the $3 billion Metro Rail will be able to transport around 1800 passengers on each direction in every three and a half minutes on this route, resulting in an average reduction of 15 buses and 100 different types of vehicles on each direction. Traffic congestion is also expected to be reduced and huge working hours will be saved.
As per the Minister of Road Transport and Bridges, Mr. Obaidul Quader, five more Metro Rail-routes will be constructed in Dhaka by the year 2030 when the face of Dhaka will change. It will cost about US$ 22 billion.
On June 26, 2016, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina officially inaugurated the construction work of the MRT-6 project. This marked the beginning of the construction work of the Elevated Metro in Dhaka. The elevated Viaduct on which the Trains will run is about 13 meters above the ground.
In Dhaka, out of 17 stations on the 21-km-long MRT-6 route, construction of a 12 km railway track from Uttara to Agargaon and construction of 9 stations is nearing completion. Under the construction package CP-3 and CP-4, the stations are Uttara North, Uttara Center, Uttara South, Pallabi, Mirpur-11, Mirpur-10, Kazipara, Shewrapara and Agargaon. The plan to inaugurate the service along this section has been set for December 16, 2022.
Each Metro station has a 180 meters long and 25 meters wide Concourse Hall. Passengers will use the stairs, escalators and elevators to purchase/recharge MRT Pass or Rapid Pass from the Concourse Hall and then board the Train from the Platform located above it. Each of these three-storied stations is built on an average 200,000 square feet area. Most of the materials used for constructing these stations have been procured locally. One of which is the use of different types of Tiles. These tiles include floor tiles, wall tiles, glass tiles, tactile tiles (for passengers with special needs), brick claddings for walls, paving blocks for platforms, and stone tiles. And these are special types of vitrified tiles made of high temperature, which do not corrode easily. Only 5 companies in the country are considered eligible to supply these tiles. About 50% cost has been saved due to the use of products manufactured locally.
Metro Rail will require about 18 megawatts of electricity to be taken from the national grid. Then it will be converted to DC electricity. For this, eight Traction substations have been installed in Uttara Depot, Uttara North, Uttara South, Mirpur-11, Shewrapara, Bijoy Sarani, Shahbag and Motijheel Stations. The cost of operation and maintenance for Metro Rail is yearly one thousand crore taka will be borne from the fare and other sources such as rental/leasing of commercial and advertisement spaces. The government is thinking about keeping the fare affordable for passengers from all walks of life with subsidies at first. The ministry of Road Transport and Bridges gave an impression that the fare may vary between a minimum of 20 Taka to 100 Taka depending on the length of the journey along the 21-km route. There will be various announcements for passengers in Metrorail in both Bangla and English.
From uttara to kamalapur
Metro Rail from Uttara to Kamalapur will take about 45 minutes. Although the highest design speed of the Metro Train is 110 kilometers per hour, the actual speed may vary due to the curves on the route and other operating factors. 17 stations in 21 kilometers mean each of the stations are located within one and a quarter kilometers from another. The Trains may stop for a maximum of one minute at each station. During peak hours, trains will run every three and half minutes apart. An estimated 60,000 passengers will be able to commute on both directions per hour from early morning to midnight.
Once fully completed, 24 sets of Metro Trains will run from Uttara to Kamalapur. However, 12 sets out of those will be used for the first phase operation from Uttara to Agargaon. Initially each of these trains will have six coaches with an option of adding two more coaches to each of the Train sets if necessary. Each Train will have a total seating and standing maximum capacity of 2,308 passengers. According to this calculation, at the beginning, it will be possible to transport about half a million passengers per day. One of the six coaches on each train will be reserved for women. However, other coaches of the train will also allow men and women to travel together.
MRT Line-6 was initially planned to reach Motijheel, but later it was extended by 1.16 km to reach Kamalapur Railway Station. Though, physical work for the extension of Motijheel to Kamalapur section has not started yet, the preparatory works for this extension is ongoing in full swing. In addition to MRT Line-6, 3 other Metro Rail routes (MRT Line-1, MRT Line-4 & MRT Line-2) will also have stations adjacent to the Kamalapur Railway Station. Once completed Kamalapur Railway Station will transform into a modern transit hub. Even though, initially, the timeframe to complete the MRT Line-6 project up to Motijheel was set for 2024, Bangladesh Government is keen to complete the project ahead of that target. If the current pace of work remains unchanged, hopefully, the people of Dhaka will get the much awaited MRT Line-6 by December 2023.
Minister Obaidul Quader said apart from the MRT-6 route, preparations for Metro Rail on two more routes have come a long way. However, in order to get the full benefits of the Metro, it is necessary to build a metropolis by coordinating with it. Preliminary work on launching two more metro rail routes has also started recently. One of them will be underground. According to the government’s plan, 131 kilometers of metrorail is needed to connect Dhaka and its surrounding suburbs. According to the RSTP survey, with the construction of six metrorails, about 5.2 million passengers will be able to travel daily. The remaining five metrorails will be underground and bypass to connect Dhaka and its suburbs. Of these, two have been approved so far. According to Ministry, the government has planned to build a total of six metrorail routes by 2030. The 21 kilometer long MRT-1 route Kamalapur-Airport (13 km underground) and Natun Bazar to Purbachal (8 km) viaduct, the total number of stations is 21.
The construction of this route will cost Tk 52,000 crore. The approved MRT-5 project includes 12 metro stations on the Hemayetpur-Aminbazar (8.5 km) viaduct in Savar and on the Gabtoli-Vatara (13.5 km) subway. Besides, there are plans to build a metro rail from Gabtoli to Dasherkandi (18 km). The cost of this project has been estimated at Tk 41,000 crore. Besides, MRT-2 route is Demra near Chittagong Road (24 km) from Gabtoli and Narayanganj (18 km) from Kamalapur. The three Metrorail routes in Gabtoli area are Line-1 (Gabtoli to Dhanmondi, Chittagong Road via Gulistan), Line-5 Northern way (from Hemayetpur in Savar to Mirpur and Vatara via Gulshan), Line-5 Southern way (Russel Square from Gabtoli and Dasherkandi via Hatirjheel).
As it will be difficult to meet the cost of Metrorail only by transporting passengers, there are also plans to open shopping malls, hotels, entertainment centers and other commercial establishments to make it profitable. This method is called Transit Oriented Development (TOD) hub. Arrangements are being made so that a person can get off the Metro Rail and buy all the necessary products from there. As a first step, commercial establishments will be opened on the MRT-6 route nearby the Uttara Center Station.
Eventually, other TOD hubs will be constructed at one or more places for each of the Metro Rail routes.
The owner of Metrorail is Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), a fully government owned company. The Managing Director of DMTCL Mr. M. A. N.
Siddique said that the dream of this modern public transport system is being materialized due to the Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s keen interest and bold initiatives to transform Bangladesh into a Developed Country.
According to the DMTCL authorities, the work of Metro Rail is being carried out in 8 packages. The most important of these are the contract package ‘CP-8! This package includes the supply of Metro Rail Train sets (Rolling Stock). Japan’s Kawasaki and Mitsubishi consortium has been awarded the contract to supply the 24 sets of Metro Trains with 144 air conditioned coaches and Depot equipment. The whole manufacturing of these Trains is done in Japan.
For the CP-7 contract package Marubeni of Japan and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) of India have been given the contract for supply and installation of the necessary power system, overhead catenary system, signaling, telecommunication, automatic fare collection (AFC) gates, Platform Screen Doors (PSD), Lifts and Escalators for the Metro Rail. Construction of 2 Receiving Sub-stations at Uttara Depot and Motijheel is underway. Necessary equipment for construction of railway line and other sub-systems came from Japan, UK, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Singapore, China and India. Installation of overhead catenary system and power lines are ongoing. Installation of telecommunication system, power substation, signaling and station controller’s office is also nearing
completion for the handover of contract package CP-7.
Under the CP-1 package, the Tokyu Construction Company of Japan has completed the Land Development works on 25 hectares of land for the main Depot of Metro Rail located by the banks of Turag in Uttara. Under the CP-2 package, Thailand-based Italian-Thai Development (ITD) Company and China’s Sino Hydro were appointed as contractors for the construction of the Depot infrastructure at Diabari. Out of the total 52 infrastructures in the Depot area, 44 infrastructures have been already constructed which include Metro Rail stabling yard, workshop, washing plant, factories, operation control center, power substation, central store, administrative building, training center, dormitories, treatment plants etc.
The distance from Agargaon to Kawran Bazar part is 3.25 kilometers. Construction of three stations and the elevated Viaduct is ongoing under CP-5 package. The contract was awarded to the joint venture of Tekken Corporation of Japan, AB Nikko Kogyu of Japan and Abdul Monem Limited of Bangladesh. Works for Utility relocations, Check Boring, Trial Trenches, Test Piles, permanent bored Piles, Pile Caps, Pier Columns, Pier Heads, Portal Beams, Station Columns, Pre-cast Segments for Viaduct, all Spans, Special Long Span and erection of Viaduct and installation of Parapet Walls have been completed. Construction of Bijoy Sarani, Farmgate and Kawran Bazar Stations are currently ongoing. Slab casting of Concourse and Platform level of Bijoy Sarani Station and Retail, Concourse and Platform level of Farmgate and Kawran Bazar Stations have been completed.
There will be five stations from Kawran Bazar to Kamalapur via Motijheel (Bangladesh Bank). The Viaduct and four stations from Kawran Bazar to Motijheel under the CP-6 package are being constructed by the joint venture of Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co. of Japan and Italian-Thai Development (ITD) Company.
The main contractors for five of these contracts are Japanese. The Japanese have one Indian and one Bangladeshi contractor as partners. The other three contracts are being carried out by a Thai-based company and a Chinese company. Apart from this, the work of the whole project is being supervised by a General Consultant, a consortium consisting of 6 companies lead by Nippon Koei of Japan.
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