Ctg Metro Rail: Govt to start feasibility study

The government is going to start a feasibility study for launching the metro rail service in Chattogram city, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said yesterday.

Apart from the feasibility study, a long-term and comprehensive transport masterplan for the port city will be prepared under a Tk 77 crore project. Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) will provide Tk 51 crore as grant. The study is slated to be completed within one year, he said.

The study will be implemented by Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority, he told reporters after holding a meeting with South Korean ambassador Lee Jang-keun at the Secretariat. The move comes a month after the prime minister at an Ecnec meeting on January 4 called for a metro rail from Chattogram airport to the railway station in Chattogram.

However, the discussion to construct metro rail in port city has been going on for longer. Back in October 15, 2019, Quader said the PM had asked him to start a feasibility study for the project.

Quader yesterday said feasibility study for the metro rail will be carried out along with the preparation of a comprehensive transport plan for port city and adjacent areas.

A Korean expert team has already arrived in Bangladesh and they will hold series of meetings with stakeholders in Chattogram and collect necessary data from February 8 to 12, he said.