Metro rail on Agargaon-Motijheel route likely from Sep instead of Dec

The metro rail service on the much-awaited Agargaon-Motijheel route is likely to be opened in September, much earlier than the stipulated time in December.

Earlier, the metro-rail service on the 20.1-kilometre-long Uttara-Motijheel route, covering 16 stations, was scheduled to be inaugurated in December.

“We are trying our best to start the metro-rail services on the Agargaon-Motijheel route by October or November this year. Ninety-eight percent of work has already been completed,” Mohammad Abdur Rouf, additional project director (Finance & Administration) of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), said on Thursday.

Rouf, also the company secretary (additional charge), said, “We are obviously on track to open it in October but the inauguration may take place even earlier as there is huge public demand for the metro rail.”

The minimum fare for Dhaka metro rail has been fixed at Tk 20 and the maximum fare for travelling from Uttara to Motijheel at Tk 100.

On December 28, 2022, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the first-ever metro rail service in the capital amid much enthusiasm and festivity. She inaugurated the operation of the first phase of the project—Uttara to Agargaon.

As the government was starting the operation on a limited scale, it will take 20 minutes to travel the 11.73-Km distance from Uttara to Agargaon, but soon it will come down to 16-17 minutes.

Bangladesh is the third country in the South Asian region to have a metro rail service after India and Pakistan.

Initially, the train will carry 200 to 250 passengers and later it will increase to 700 to 800 passengers.

Of the 12 trains that have been kept ready for operating from Uttara to Agargaon, 10 are now running regularly.

In the first phase, the fare from Uttara station to Agargaon station is Tk 60. The fare from Uttara (North) to Uttara (Central) and Uttara-South Station is Tk 20.

Besides, from the first station Uttara North to Pallabi and Mirpur-11 stations, the fare is Tk 30, the fare till Mirpur 10 and Kazipara stations is Tk 40 and till Shewrapara station is Tk 50.