Subway in the works

The government is planning to form a company for implementing its plan to build an underground railway network in the capital and adjacent areas.

An initiative has already been taken for enacting a law to determine the formation, works and other issues of the company, officials said.

"Formation of a company for the subway is at planning level," Abu Bakr Siddique, executive director of Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA), told The Daily Star yesterday.

BBA is currently carrying out a feasibility study for building the subway network, and it is expected to be completed by February next year.

The project's draft feasibility study, submitted in March, proposed an underground railway network, with 258 kilometres of tracks in Dhaka, with an aim to ease traffic movement,

There will be 11 subway routes in the city and its outskirts, and the 50-year plan will be implemented in three phases.

Four routes, which will run for a total of 102 km, will be constructed in the first phase. In the second and third phases, lines running for a total of 85 km and 71 km will be constructed.

There will be a 29.35 km route called "O" from Jhilmil Project area in Keraniganj to Tongi. It will be the first to be implemented, at an approximate cost of USD 8 billion, officials said earlier.

Some experts, however, while talking at different platforms earlier questioned the feasibility of the mega project in an unplanned city like Dhaka.

Besides, the proposed subway routes will run parallel to metro rail lines in many areas, which is another problem, they said.

The government is developing a 128.74 km elevated and underground metro rail network, comprising six metro rail lines, in the city and adjacent areas, which is supposed to be completed by 2030.

Although the subway has long been in discussion, it was not included in the revised strategic transport plan for Dhaka, approved in 2015, reportedly because it is not feasible, they added.

However, project director Kazi Md Ferdous, at a programme in March, said they would build the subway to organise the city's traffic.

BBA had sent the proposal to Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority to incorporate the subway in the strategic plan, sources said.

The project's consultants said the metro network should be complemented by the subway system for better coverage and connectivity.

THE SUBWAY COMPANY

The issue of forming a state-owned company, like Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL), was discussed at the monthly coordination meeting of the Bridge Division last month.

DMTCL was formed in June 2013 to establish, operate and maintain the under-construction metro rail network.

At the meeting, officials informed the meeting that preparation of a master-plan for the subway is at the final stage, and a separate company is required for construction.

The meeting, presided over by Abu Bakr Siddique, also secretary of the division, decided to take initiative for enacting a law for forming the subway company.

Instructed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, BBA started the feasibility study in September 2018.

Although the study was supposed to be completed in October this year, officials later extended the deadline to February next year.