METRO RAIL PROJECT

METRO RAIL PROJECT

Dhaka Metro Rail, colloquially known as the Dhaka Metro is an approved mass rapid transit system under construction in Dhaka, the capital and the busiest city of Bangladesh. Together with a separate Light rapid transit (LRT) system, it has been long called for to ease the extreme traffic jams and congestion that occur throughout the entire city daily, one of the heaviest in the world. It is a part of the 20-year long Strategic Transport Plan (STP) outlined by the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA), a governmental agency.

Dhaka Metro Rail, informally known as the Dhaka Metro, is an approved mass rapid transit system under construction in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. The project consists of a total of five lines, i.e. MRT Lines 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6.

The MRT line 1 will have two routes, i.e. MRT Line-1 (Airport Route) and MRT Line-1 (Purbachal Route). The construction of the airport route, which will be 19.872 km long with a total of 12 underground stations and three interchanges, is set to begin in March 2022, at a cost of US$ 6.1bn. The government of Bangladesh will provide US$ 1.5bn for the construction of this line while the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) will provide US$ 4.6bn.

The 11.369 km MRT Line-1 (Purbachal Route) on the other hand will have a total of 9 stations, 2 of which will be underground as a part of the airport route.

MRT Line 2 will be 24 km long from Gabtoli to Chittagong Road with a total of 24 stations while MRT Line-4 is said to connect Kamalapur Railway Station with Narayanganj, a distance of 16 km with underground lines.

MRT Line-5 which has two routes i.e. the Northern Route (20 km long), and the Southern Route (17.4- km) will connect Hemayetpur of Savar Upazila and Bhatara, and Gabtoli and Dasherkandi. 13.5 km of the MRT Line 5 Northern route will be underground and 6.5 km elevated with 14 stations, 9 of which will be underground. The MRT Line-5 Southern Route.

Lastly, the MRT Line-6 consists of 16 elevated stations each 180m long, and 20.1 km of electricity-powered light rail tracks. The entire Line-6, except for the depot section and some of its accompanying LRT, will be elevated above current roads primarily above road medians to allow traffic flow underneath, with stations also elevated.