Metro Rail Link Extension: PMO roped in to settle row

With the Bangladesh Railway and the metro rail authorities locked in a row over the extension of MRT Line-6 from Motijheel to Kamalapur in the capital, the Prime Minister's Office is set to step in to resolve the dispute.

The PMO will hold a virtual meeting tomorrow with officials of Bangladesh Railway and the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL), the implementing authority of the metro rail projects. Ahmad Kaikaus, principal secretary to the prime minister, will chair the meeting, said officials.

The move came after the DMTCL sought the PMO's help in resolving the issue.

Although the meeting agenda is selecting sites for two stations of the extended MRT Line-6 and MRT Line-1 in Kamalapur area for proper integration, some other unresolved issues over MRT Line-6 extension plan are expected to dominate the discussions at the meeting, the officials said.

The railway authorities have expressed serious reservations about a move to extend Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-6, the first ever metro rail project in the country, up to Kamalapur Railway Station, saying it will jeopardise railway's mega plan to turn the country's prime railway station into a multimodal transport hub.

As per a time-bound plan, the government will build six metro rail lines in Dhaka and its adjacent areas within 2030, aiming to reduce traffic congestion and environmental pollution.

The construction of MRT Line-6 is now underway while the work of MRT Line-1, which will connect Dhaka airport with Kamalapur Railway Station through an underground line, is scheduled to start in December.

The MRT Line-1 will be the country's first underground metro rail system. The 31.24km route will have an elevated section from Notun Bazar to Purbachal.

REASON FOR THE ROW

The MRT Line-6 was initially designed as an elevated track from Uttara to Motijheel. Later, a skywalk was planned to connect the line with Kamalapur Railway Station.

Meanwhile, the DMTCL last year planned to stretch the MRT Line-6 directly to Kamalapur instead of implementing the skyway system so that people can avail the metro rail service directly from the railway station.

But the railway authorities said they have a plan to build a multi-modal transport hub centring the Kamalapur station.

The government has already signed a memorandum of cooperation with Japan to implement transport hub under a G2G public-private partnership project. The basic concept of the plan was approved in the third Bangladesh-Japan joint platform meeting in March last year, reads BR documents.

"So the present proposal for extension of MRT Line-6 alignment on the Kamalapur station premises is not acceptable," reads the minutes of a meeting held at Railway Bhaban in December last year.

"After detailed discussions, it is found that extension of MRT Line-6 will confront the basic theme of development of MmTH [Multimodal Transport Hub] and other Bangladesh Railway development works," it added.

Besides, Japanese company Kajima Corporation, which had already outlined a concept of the hub, informed the railway authorities that it would withdraw its proposal if the present MRT Line-6 extension plan was accepted, said a top railway official.

He said the minutes of the meeting, presided over by Railways Minister Nurul Islam, was sent the to the DMTCL on December 30 last year.

Meanwhile, officials of railway and DMTCL held a meeting on the issue in the middle of last month, where DMTCL placed a "reviewed" extension plan, said a railway official, who was present at the meeting.

"But we have expressed our reservation over it as the reviewed plan will also obstruct our plan of building a multi-modal transport hub. So we asked them [DMTCL officials] to rethink about it and accommodate our plan," he told this correspondent wishing not be named.

Dhirendra Nath Majumder, additional director general (infrastructure) of Bangladesh Railway, yesterday said, "We will raise our points over the matter at the meeting [at PMO].

"If their plan is implemented as per the present proposal, our plan would be obstructed. We hope we will be able to reach a solution through discussions," he added.

Contacted, DMTCL Managing Director MAN Siddique said the meeting was called for finalising the places for two stations of MRT Line-1 and 6 in Kamalapur area.

Asked about the railway's reservation over their plan, he said, "We didn't receive any formal objection from the railway authorities. But we will select the sites for the stations considering the masterplan of the railway."

Siddique said they have already completed a topography survey and finalised the alignment for the additional 1.16km of MRT Line-6. "We will start working on detailed design once the site for the stations is selected," he told The Daily Star on August 27.

The deadline for completion of MRT Line-6 is December 2021 and MRT Line-1 December 2026. The estimated costs of the projects are Tk 22,000 crore and Tk 55,561 crore respectively.