Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday inaugurated construction work for the country’s first Metro rail service in Dhaka.
The first 11km of the $2.5bn project, which is expected to transport 60,000 passengers an hour, would be completed by 2019 and 4.4km by 2020.
The Metro project stretches from Uttara to Motijheel.
An official earlier said the overhead construction of Metro line can help the Bangladeshi government’s efforts to ease traffic gridlock in Dhaka which has only 436km of four-lane and 1,408km of two-lane roads.
The $2.5bn project is expected to provide an improved, safe, faster and affordable but modern means of urban public transport service significantly reducing the perennial traffic congestion in the capital and prevent environmental pollution, said transport engineering expert Shamsul Hoque.
With every Metro line train comprising six air-conditioned cars, a city commuter will travel between Motijheel and north Uttara in 38 minutes and there will be a train in every four minutes at each of the 16 stations on the way in both directions.
The 16 stations would be in north Uttara, Pallabi, Mirpur, Kazipara, Sheorapara, Agargaon, Rokeya Sharani, Bijoy Sharani, Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, Shahbagh, Dhaka University, Bangladesh Secretariat and Motijheel.