Metro to run for 1hr extra from 16th Ramadan

The metro rail trains will run for one extra hour starting from the 16th day of Ramadan, MAN Siddique, managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL) said yesterday.

The last train from Motijheel will leave at 9:40pm and the last train from Uttara North at 9:00pm, he told reporters.

However, ticket counters will close at 7:50pm and only the holders of MTR and Rapid passes will be able to avail metro service after 8:00pm.

Currently, people can use metro until 8:00pm at Uttara end and until 8:40pm at Motijheel end.

The metro rail authorities will also increase the length of peak hours from the first of Ramadan.

Until 15th Ramadan, trains from Uttara North to Motijheel would operate every 10 minutes from 7:10am to 7:30am, every eight minutes from 7:31am to 11:36am, every 12 minutes from 11:37am to 2:00pm, and every eight minutes from 2:01pm to 8:00pm.

Trains from Motijheel to Uttara North will be available every 10 minutes from 7:30am to 8:00am, every eight minutes from 8:01am to 12:08pm, every 12 minutes from 12:09pm to 2:40pm, and every eight minutes from 2:41pm to 8:40pm.

Metro rail services will be closed on Eid day.

MAN Siddique said during Ramadan people will be allowed to carry 250ml bottles before and after iftar time. He said no food would be allowed on the trains. He urged people to use the trashcans for disposing of the water bottles.  

The iftar schedule will be on screens inside the trains and stations.

He said around 2.90 lakh passengers use the metro rail daily, with each train carrying 1,632 passengers on average.

He said they earn Tk 1.50 crore a day but they need to earn Tk 3 crore a day to break even.

He said around 52 percent passengers now use MRT/Rapid pass. They have so far sold 3.9 lakh MRT pass and are selling around 3,000 passes every day.