The metro rail (MRT line-6) project is being constructed in eight phases at a cost of Tk22,000 crore
The construction progress of the much needed metro rail project (MRT line-6) has only been 12% since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the inauguration stone on October 31, 2013.
Minister of Road Transport and Bridges Obaidul Quader, on Wednesday explained that the initial delay was caused by the terrorist attack on Holy Artisan Bakery last year where several Japanese officials and consultants of the project were killed.
“Now the construction is progressing at a steady pace. The pillars of the metro rail line will be erected in the next six months and we hope to see the metro rail open in 2019,” said the minister while visiting the project’s depot in Uttara on Wednesday.
The metro rail project
The metro rail (MRT line-6) project is being constructed in eight phases at a cost of Tk22,000 crore.
Currently, the land development and civil work is being done for the depot which are phases one and two, respectively. Around two thirds of the land development work is complete.
The depot would be home to trains while will have some of them would also house office buildings, workshops, operation centre, washing plant and maintenance wings. The 19acres land would be developed at the cost Tk56.67crore and allocation for civil work is Tk1,596 crore.
The civil work is being done by the Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited and Sinohydro Corporation Limited JV and a Tokyo based construction company is developing the depot’s land.
Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited might be given the job to build around the 12 kilometre-long viaduct between Uttara to Agargoan and nine stations at the cost of Tk4,230 crore, as per phase three and four.
The 20.1 kilometre long metro rail (MRT line-1) between Uttara to Motijheel is being constructed under the supervision of Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Company. MRT line-1 will be able to carry 60,000 passengers every hour, both ways.
The first phase of the project on the Uttara to Agargoan line is set to be completed by 2019. In 2020 the entire project is set to be complete. The metro rail will come to the stations every 3.5 minutes, and it will take 37 minutes for the train to travel between Motijheel to Uttara.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
