First set of metro rail coaches being taken to depot
The second set is expected to reach Uttara depot via Mongla port by 18 June
The first set of six coaches of the country's maiden metro rail project are being taken to the Uttara Diabari depot in Dhaka on Wednesday.
"The first set arrived at the newly constructed jetty of DMTCL (Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited) near the metro rail depot at the capital's Diabari," said Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader hoping that the shifting process will be finished by Friday.
The ship carrying the metro train set started its journey from Kobe port of Japan on 4 March.
"Besides, the shipping procedure of the second set was completed yesterday at the Kobe port, which is expected to reach Uttara depot via Mongla port by 18 June," the minister said while exchanging views with the officials of Gopalganj Road Zone, BRTA and BRTC in a video conference from his residence here today.
Moreover, the tentative shipment date of the third and fourth set is 11 June and is expected to reach Uttara depot on 13 August, while the fifth set will leave Kobe port on 16 July and reach Dhaka by 17 September.
Mass Rapid Transit Line-6 (MRT-6), country's first-ever metro rail, is being built from the capital's Uttara third phase to Motijheel at the cost of Tk 22,000 crore.
The project consists of 144 coaches under 24 sets. Each train will have a carrying capacity of 2308 passengers.
According to the minister, the overall progress of the construction work of MRT-6 is 81.49 percent.
The construction work from Uttara third phase to Agargaon during the first phase has progressed 83.52 percent while the second phase construction from Agargaon to Matijhil progressed 57.68 percent. Moreover, the combined progress of electrical and mechanical systems and rolling stock depot equipment procurement is 52.22 percent.
According to a press release issued by the ministry, the government has saved Tk 70.58 crore by completing the land development work in the depot area nine months prior to the due schedule and thirteen out of the total fifty-two infrastructures planned to be constructed inside the depot has been completed.
The erection of an 11.73-kilometer long viaduct allocated for the first phase completed on 28 February, on which a nine-kilometer long rail line has been laid. By far, the construction work of 13.97 km out of 2.10 km viaduct is completed. Meanwhile, the sixteen railway station is being built.