The Dhaka-Gazipur Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project remains idle 14 years after approval, with its estimated cost now at Tk4,268 crore.
The government is preparing to present four options to the cabinet.
The options are to complete the BRT, run route-based buses on the existing infrastructure, convert the corridor into a toll expressway, or demolish the structures to build a six-lane highway.
Earlier, Roads Transport and Highways Division (RTHD) Secretary Ziaul Haque said transport experts and urban planners, along with residents and transport operators, recommended the options.
They have been presented to the prime minister and will go to the cabinet.
Eventually, Mohammad Nurul Amin Khan, managing director of the BRT company, confirmed that the four options are under consideration.
Residents demand launch of bus services
Sachetan Nagarik Samaj of Gazipur held a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity on Saturday, demanding the swift launch of the Gazipur-Airport Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.
Opposing any move to demolish the project after nearly 97% of the work was complete, the organization called for a clear implementation timeline, an independent technical and economic assessment, and effective use of the existing infrastructure.
The speakers urged the government to end the 14-year delay and launch bus services immediately to ease traffic congestion and reduce public suffering in Gazipur.
Cost more than doubles as deadlines slip
The 20-kilometer project was approved in 2012 at an estimated Tk2,040 crore. The cost has since more than doubled to Tk4,268.32 crore.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing Tk2,118.95 crore, the French development agency AFD Tk903.49 crore, and the government Tk1,245.88 crore.
It was due to be completed in December 2016. After five extensions, the deadline was moved to December 2024.
According to project documents, around 97% of infrastructure work is complete, but overall progress stands at 77.48%.
A fourth revision proposed raising the cost to Tk6,597 crore and extending the deadline to December 2029. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) did not approve it on July 27, 2025, stressing the need for a review by local and foreign experts.
The government canceled a tender for electric buses, and a second tender in April 2024 for 137 air-conditioned diesel buses also failed. Seven people have died in construction-related accidents, including five who were killed on August 15, 2022, when a girder collapsed on Uttara’s Jasimuddin Avenue.
Government yet to decide project’s fate
Talking to the media, Road Transport, Railways and Shipping Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam has previously said there is strong support for cancellation, though some believe additional spending could still yield partial benefits. A stakeholder meeting is to be held before the final decision.
Ministry sources said the interim government had decided against proceeding, but the BNP-led government has yet to take a clear position. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman met representatives of both sides in August.
Buet review flags planning, implementation failures
A four-member team from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), led by Prof Shamsul Hoque, reviewed reports by two ministry committees. It called the project a “systemic failure” of planning and implementation, citing weak technical evaluation, design flaws, poor coordination and lack of accountability.
The team made 17 recommendations, including emphasizing commuter rail, completing unfinished pedestrian overpasses, and relocating or auctioning the stations’ escalators and lifts.
The report names no individual.
It says the feasibility and design consultants, planning officials, financiers, the project steering committee, the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division, and the Planning Commission must be held accountable.
“It is a very poor example,” Prof Hoque confirmed to Dhaka Tribune and describing BRT as an “imposed project”.
He said experienced professionals could have been brought in from abroad.
Despite the flaws, he added, the existing flyovers, footpaths, roads and drainage can still be used.
Experts favour using existing infrastructure
Prof Md Hadiuzzaman of BUET has proposed introducing public transport in phases using the existing BRT lanes.
Adil Mohammad Khan, an urban planner at Jahangirnagar University, told Dhaka Tribune that the government should prioritize making the existing infrastructure operational through an integrated public transport plan. “Demolishing it would waste public investment,” he said.
Earlier, the Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) has also argued for completion. It says about 3% of infrastructure work remains, that service could begin within a year with an additional Tk300 crore, and that dismantling and compensating contractors could cost more than Tk1,000 crore.
Engineer Md Shamsul Hoque, president of Gazipur Heritage and Development, claimed that demolition and rebuilding could cost around Tk4,000 crore and take four to five years. He also alleged that a powerful group in the transport sector had obstructed the project. This claim could not be independently verified.
Further investment raises concerns
A senior ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said abandoning the project would waste much of the borrowed money.
Proceeding, the official said, would require an additional Tk3,500 crore to buy and operate buses, posing its own risk of failure.
Another ministry source, also speaking anonymously, claimed that development partners want projects executed quickly to keep lending going and meet disbursement targets.
This claim could not be independently verified. The ADB, AFD and the Economic Relations Division could not be reached for comment.
Stations, infrastructure remain unused
Of 25 planned stations, 15 structures have been built in the median, but none is complete. An escalator in Uttara was briefly operated but is now out of service, while machinery at other stations is rusting. Most pedestrian overpasses in the Gazipur section remain unusable.
Nearly foot-high concrete barriers separate the lane along the route and would have to be removed if the corridor is reopened. All vehicles are currently allowed on the BRT lane. Md Sohel, a covered-van driver, said a trip from the airport area to Gazipur took 10 hours on a rainy day in 2022.
The project reportedly began before a full feasibility study and detailed design were completed. Construction revealed no proper drainage, causing waterlogging, and no plan to relocate utility lines or maintain traffic. Experts say BRT is usually built on roads with 12 to 14 lanes, whereas the Gazipur road has four and the airport section six.
The central question remains whether bus services can be launched quickly and safely on the existing infrastructure, or whether the project must be rebuilt.