Formal trial run of metro rail flagged off
The train started the run and stop at four stations across an area of more than six kilometers from Uttara North to Pallabi
When the clock struck 11:53 am, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader waved a green flag and Bangladesh's first-ever metro train on the viaduct started off its formal trial operations by blowing its whistle.
To witness the prideful moment, many people turned up on both sides underneath the viaduct, while people standing at windows in nearby buildings also hurrahed the trial run.
This is how the official performance test of metro rail began on Sunday.
The set of the metro train left Diabari depot at Uttara for Pallabi station. The electric train crossed three stations on its way – Uttara North, Uttara Central, and Uttara South. The train having the capacity to run at 100kmph was kept at 25kmph on the first day.
Earlier, on Friday, a train with six coaches was put on a trial run from Uttara to Pallabi.
The metro rail project taken up in 2012 will see its tenure end in June 2024. Earlier, the target was set to open metro train service on the Uttara-Agargaon section in December 2019. But the target could not be met as project work was halted for six months following the death of seven consultants in the Holey Artisan Café attack, according to Planning Commission data.
The target of launching the metro train in December last year could not be fulfilled either because of the pandemic.
The third phase of the metro rail project connecting a 20.10km stretch from Uttara to Motijheel was taken up in 2021 as Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) is funding the Tk22,000 crore mega-project.
The rail construction was later expanded to Kamalapur. With the extension, the length of the metro infrastructure will be 21.26km.
In the flagging off ceremony, Quader said after 14 months of performance test, including an uninterrupted trial run for six months in a row, metro trail will go into commercial operation by December 2022 on the Uttara-Agargaon section.
Work on the 11.73-kilometre viaduct in this section was completed in February this year. Construction of the first four stations is nearing completion, while work on the remaining stations is progressing rapidly. The installation of electric lines for the first five stations has finished.
Some 24 trains will carry passengers on the Uttara-Motijheel route as four trains have arrived in the country from Japan so far. The fifth set is set to arrive in Dhaka from Japan in the second week of September, according to the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL).
Three megaprojects will be open to traffic next year – the much-anticipated Padma Bridge Project in June, and Karnaphuli tunnel in Chattogram and metro rail later in the year, the road transport and bridges minister said.
Describing the metro rail's performance test as a major milestone in the country's development, the minister said, "We have gone through a lot of hurdles before reaching this position."
The minister also hoped to build a strong 129km metro network with 104 stations comprising six metro rails by 2030.
Around 17-kilometre railway tracks have been installed on the mainline of the viaduct, he also said
The Uttara-Agargaon phase of the fast-track project has so far logged 88.18% overall progress, while Agargaon-Motijheel phase registered 66.74% progress. The total progress of the entire project was 68.49%.
Deputy Chief of Japanese Embassy in Dhaka Hiroyuki Yamaya, Jica Bangladesh Chief Representative Yuho Hayakawa, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) Managing Director MAN Siddique were also present on the occasion.
MAN Siddique, managing director of DMTCL, told The Business Standard, "I am excited and very happy today. After a lot of hard work, metro rail has now got on the viaduct. This is definitely a day for me to remember."
