Metro rail, BRT construction to start June 26

The government is set to begin the construction of much talked about mega projects Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), also known as metro rail, and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Dhaka next Sunday. “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will officially inaugurate the construction work of the two projects on June 26 at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre,” Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader told the Dhaka Tribune on Monday. The prime minister will also inaugurate the Joydebpur-Mymensingh four-lane highway, the construction of which is already complete, the minister added. Construction of the MRT project is going to begin as per the schedule, but construction of the BRT project has already missed three deadlines. The MRT project will be constructed under the supervision of Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Company (DMRTDC). All preparation ahead of the main construction work is already complete. The project is being funded by both the government and Japan International Cooperative Agency (Jica) – Jica is contributing Tk16,594.59 crore to the project, while the government is paying Tk5,390.48 crore. When complete and in operation, the MRT stations will see a train come every 3.5 minutes, and it will take 37 minutes for a train to cover the distance between Motijheel-Uttara. The metro rail depot is to be developed by Tokyu Construction Ltd, a Japanese company, on a 23.84-hectare land during the construction period at the cost of around Tk567 crore, sources said. “The project will be implemented under eight construction packages. The first part of the project, from Uttara to Agargaon, is set to be finished by December 2019, and the rest will be complete by 2020,” Quader said. The BRT project is a dedicated bus lane which will be constructed between Dhaka and Gazipur on the existing six-lane highway. The project is divided in two parts: on part is from Gazipur's Shibbari to Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, and the other part is from the airport to Dhaka's Keraniganj. Once complete, it will take 20 minutes to come from Shibbari to airport, and around 21 minutes to come to Keraniganj from the airport. According to the latest design, the 20.5km Shibbari-Airport route will have 25 stoppages, six flyovers, and a 4.5km elevated road from Uttara to Tongi. Each station will see a bus arrive every three minutes. The plan for the Airport-Karaniganj route has yet to be finalised. Around 25,000 people are expected to commute on the BRT on both the sides every hour. “Once complete, 100 articulated buses will run on the BRT route. Passengers will be required to use a smart card to use the service,” the minister said. The total cost of the project is estimated to be around Tk2,000 crore, Tk1,000 crore of which will jointly provided by the Asian Development Bank, French Development Agency, and Global Environmental Facility Fund. The rest will be provided by the government.