Metro rail to run for 4hrs from 8am initially

The Metro rail services will be operated for four hours daily--from 8:00am to noon-- in the beginning and the time will be increased depending on how passengers get habituated to the new mode of public transport.

In the beginning, the trains would be operated between Uttara and Agargaon directly without any stoppages.

The metro rail authorities will start selling single- and multiple-use cards from Thursday, a day after the inauguration of the country's first metro rail.

MAN Siddique, managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd, which will conduct the metro rail services, told The Daily Star this evening.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the Uttara-Agargaon section of the metro rail on Wednesday and people will be able to commute on the metro from the following day.

Earlier, the metro rail authorities had planned to operate the metro rail for two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening for the first few days, said Siddique.

"But we have taken the final decision to operate trains from 8:00am to noon, in the beginning, considering people's benefit," added Siddique said.

The authorities also had the plan to start selling tickets after the prime minister leaves the site launching the country's first metro rail on December 28.

"But it would take time for the withdrawal of security personnel from the site. So, we have decided to start selling tickets from December 29 morning," he said.

While talking to reporters earlier, Siddique said they would take three months to start the full-fledged operation of metro rail services.

There will be two types of cards—one for single use and another for multiple usages.

Those who would buy the single-use card from the station will have to leave it after the journey. The cards will be sold at a vending machine and from a booth also.

Multiple-use cards could be used for 10 years. Commuters will have to register and pay Tk 400 for these cards. Out of Tk 400, Tk 200 will be used as deposit money and Tk 200 can be used for travelling. A passenger can refill the card with up to Tk 10,000.

The commuter will get back the deposited money by returning the card, Siddique told this correspondent earlier.

For now, people will have to buy the cards with cash, he said, adding that the authorities are working with different companies providing mobile financial services so that passengers could buy the cards through the mobile transaction.