Metro rail to operate till 9:40pm from tomorrow

The Dhaka Metro Rail service hours have been extended by an hour. The last metro train will leave at 9pm from Uttara station and at 9:40pm from Motijheel station starting tomorrow (27 March).

The new schedule was officially announced by Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL) Managing Director MAN Siddique during a press briefing at the DMTCL's Eskaton office today (26 March).

The managing director also announced that the Motijheel-Kamalapur route will be operational by June next year.

The metro will operate at 12-minute intervals during the extended period which means another 10 trips will be added to the current schedule. Currently, the metro runs with a 12-minute headway during off-peak hours and an 8-minute headway during peak hours.

MAN Siddique said after 9pm, only MRT pass holders can travel on the trains which will go to Uttara route from Motijheel metro station. Single-ticket passengers cannot travel on these trains as the ticket counters will be closed before that, he added.

Regarding the opening of the third section of MRT-6, he said, "The Motijheel-Kamalapur route viaduct installation has started from 23 March and three viaducts have already been installed. We hope by June 2025 we will be able to start operation on the route."

The briefing also informed that metro rail will not operate on Eid day.

According to metro rail authorities, the one-hour extension will increase the number of trains to 194 instead of 184 per day, facilitating a total of 447,752 passengers every day.

Two metro trains departing from Uttara North station at 7:10am and 7:20am and trains leaving Motijheel station after 9pm can only be boarded using MRT and Rapid Pass as after 8:50pm all ticketing offices and machines remain closed at metro rail stations.

Single journey tickets can be collected from all metro stations from 7:15am to 8:50pm. A ticket holder (single journey ticket, MRT or Rapid Pass) can remain in the paid area for a maximum of 75 minutes for the month of Ramadan only. If the time exceeds, a penalty of Tk100 will be enforced.