Govt to start feasibility study for Ctg metro rail: Quader

The government, in association with a South Korean development organisation, is going to start a feasibility study for constructing metro rail in Chattogram, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said today.

The government is also planning to take a long-term master plan for a transportation system in the port city and adjacent areas, the minister said.

A Tk 77 crore project will be implemented under the Roads and Highways Department, of which, Tk 51 crore will be funded by the South Korean government, he said.

The minister was talking to the media after a meeting with the South Korean ambassador to Bangladesh, Lee Jang-keun today.

Quader hoped that the feasibility study will be completed in one year.

An expert team from Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), a South Korean organisation, is already visiting Bangladesh and they will exchange views will all the stakeholders and collect necessary data in this regard from February 8 and 12, the minister said.

The potentiality of a multi-modal transport hub, circular road, radial road, operation of bus services under some particular companies, among others issues, will also be studied, he added.

The move came a month after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at an ECNEC meeting on January 4 called for a metro rail from the Shah Amanat International Airport to the railway station in Chattogram.

The government is implementing a time-bound working plan for building a 130km network, consisting of six lines in Dhaka and its adjacent areas, within 2030.

Partial operation of Mass Rapid Transit Line-6 (MRT Line -6), the first metro rail in Dhaka, is expected to launch in December this year.