First metro train leaves Japan for Dhaka

The first set of metro train left Port of Kobe in Japan yesterday and expected to reach Dhaka via Mongla port next month.

"The train left the port at 18:00 Japan Standard Time [3pm Bangladesh time]," MAN Siddique, managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) -- the implementing agency of the project -- told The Daily Star.

The first train was supposed to leave the port on February 20, but could not -- due to inclement weather, MAN Siddique told reporters on February 28.

"We hope the train would reach Dhaka within April 23. However, it would depend on weather," he said yesterday.

The train would reach a depot in Dhaka's Diabari area via Mongla port. It will have six coaches with the highest capacity of 2,308 in total, according to DMTCL sources.

Mass Rapid Transit Line-6 or MRT-6, country's first ever metro rail, is being built from the capital's Uttara third phase to Motijheel at the cost of Tk 22,000 crore. 

DMTCL, in August 2017, signed a contract with Kawasaki-Mitsubishi Consortium for manufacturing 24 sets of trains for the metro rail. Five sets of train were manufactured within December last year. The second train is likely to reach the depot on June 16, and the third on August 13.

The original implementation period of the project was 2012-2024. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina later directed that metro services from Uttara to Agargaon be made operational by 2019, and from Agargaon to Motijheel by 2020.

Failing to meet the deadline, authorities in May 2019 said the project would be launched on December 16, 2021, as the country celebrates golden jubilee of its independence.

Planning Minister MA Mannan recently said the first phase -- from Uttara to Agargaon -- of the metro rail is likely to be operational in December this year.

Asked whether they would start operation of the first phase in December, MAN Siddique on February 28 said they would be able to inform about the plan after the metro rail reaches Bangladesh, expectedly in April.

MAN Siddique, on February 4, told reporters that they might start a trial run of the first metro rail service in July, as the first train is expected to arrive in April. The trial run might continue for as long as six months, he added.

According to a monthly report, the first phase of the project, from Uttara to Agargaon, witnessed 81.42 percent progress as of February, while the second phase, from Agargaon to Motijheel, saw 54.61 percent, and the third phase, which refers to installation of the tracks and procurement of the carriages and other equipment, witnessed 49 percent progress.