Hundreds take their first metro rides as Tk2.74 lakh earned in fare on first day

Hundreds of Dhaka residents, infectious in their enthusiasm, started gathering in front of the stations in both Uttara and Agargaon in the early morning Thursday – defying the biting cold and foggy winter morning, many even queued up from 4am.

They all wanted to be among the first to ride the country's first-ever metro rail.

A half-kilometer-long queue was seen in front of the Agargaon Metro Station for tickets hours before the trains started their journey with passengers at 8am.

On its first day of commercial trips on Thursday, the Metro Rail earned Tk2,74,860.

A total of 3,855 people commuted on the train on the first day. Of them, 99 used Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) passes, and 3,756 people bought one-time tickets, said Nazmul Islam Bhuiyan, deputy secretary (Public Relations) of the Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project (Line-6).

He also told The Business Standard that the MRT passes will be available at the Uttara and Agargaon metro stations in the capital from 3pm to 9pm.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the service the day before.

Among the passengers some were office goers, while some came with their families. Many were seen taking selfies as people standing in line were in a festive mood despite the long queues.

Speaking to The Business Standard, Sohel Rana, a service holder waiting at the Agargaon metro station, said, "I came here with my wife, relatives and kids early in the morning for a metro ride.

"Before this, I took metro rides in Bangkok, China and Kolkata. But this time, I will board a metro train in my own country. We are very excited to be here on the first day of commercial operations."

Echoing the same, Monira Parvin, a homemaker who brought her children, said, "We have been here for an hour. The lines are slowly moving forward. Getting on board the metro rail on the first day is a matter of great delight."

Due to the surge this morning, security officials were seen controlling the flow of people entering the stations as per orders of the authorities. 

"We are low in staff numbers so it is difficult to serve this many people at once. That's why we're letting a handful of passengers enter the stations at a time," said one of the metro officials seeking anonymity.

The long queues annoyed some office-goers.

"My workplace in Uttara opens at 10am. Since it is supposed to take ten minutes to reach Uttara, I started from my home in Kafrul after 9am. But now it's uncertain when I will be able to board the train," service holder Mir Mosharaf Hossein told TBS. 

"I didn't realise that there would be such a crowd, otherwise I would have started early," he added. 

Another Uttara-bound office goer Ashraf Kabir said he would take a bus to his workplace after waiting for half an hour in the passenger queue for the metro rail.

"In the last 30 minutes, the line didn't move forward that much. My office starts at 9:30am, so I have decided to take the bus today."

Some 30 shuttle buses of the state-owned Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) had been kept ready at the Agargaon station for the passengers coming from Uttara. The double-decker buses are scheduled to leave the station every 10 minutes.

The metro trains will run from 8am-12pm daily from Uttara to Agargaon stations without any stoppage.

The trains will not stop at all stations in the beginning. Initially, the trains will carry some 200-250 passengers and later, the number will be increased to 700-800.

Ten metro trains will run regularly on the Uttara-Agargaon-Uttara, while two will be on standby. 

Passengers face problems purchasing tickets 

Many passengers complained about facing problems purchasing tickets from electronic booths due to technical glitches on the first day of metro rail operations.

There are 12 electronic ticket booths in the two stations. The ticket is supposed to come out if you pay there. But after entering the money, several machines began to malfunction. Metrorail staffers could repair a few.

In this regard, the Managing Director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited MAN Siddique attributed the problem to the passengers' lack of knowledge in using electronic ticket booths.

"They were told not to enter more than Tk100 for a single journey. But money used Tk500 and Tk1,000 notes. Some used very old bills. Due to these, the machines malfunctioned. But hopefully once people get used to the system, most take the MRT pass and not waste much time buying tickets. Then more passengers will be able to travel."