Wasif Mohammad Abdullah, a 34-year-old banker, was thrilled to take his first trip this month on Dhaka's new metro rail line.
"I've a car, but I plan to use the metro rail for daily commuting as an affordable, convenient transport mode when the route extends to the southern part of the city where I work," he said.
In late December, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the first section of the MRT Line-6, built by the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited, with financial support from the Japanese government. The remaining part of this first elevated line is expected to be completed by next December, with plans for five more metro rail corridors to be built across the sprawling metropolitan region.
The rail system is expected to provide a safe and reliable transport option for the city's rising population of more than 20 million while cutting climate-heating emissions from vehicles crowding the roads.
Dhaka's boundaries are rapidly expanding as new settlements are added to the outskirts, with the metropolitan development authority extending its area of jurisdiction by 96 sq km to 1,528 sq km in the latest strategic urban plan for 2016-2035.
Alongside its growth, Dhaka has seen extreme congestion in recent years, hampering mobility in the city.
The average driving speed has dropped to below 7 km per hour and 3.2 million working hours are lost each day due to congestion, according to a 2018 World Bank report. The government's long-term development plan for 2021-2041 encourages rapid urbanisation and envisions 80% of the country's population living in urban areas in two decades' time.
To help cope with this influx of people, the metro rail is seen as the backbone of Dhaka's future public transport system.
But experts say additional measures will be essential to integrate the metro system with other modes of public transport if the city is to become less congested and more livable.
Toxic air
In early February, the High Court of Bangladesh directed the government to take steps to clean up Dhaka's air, whose quality ranks among the worst in various global reports.
"The heavy air pollution and heat-trapping often make Dhaka's streets feel like gas chambers, and the metro rail can be a major step towards allaying the problem," said Shamsul Hoque, a professor at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).
Transport accounts for a little less than 10% of Bangladesh's greenhouse gas emissions, and the government has committed to cut the sector's emissions by just over 9% by 2030.
AKM Hafizur Rahman, deputy head of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA), said the mass transit rail system would reduce carbon emissions and curb sound and air pollution, driving positive environmental impacts.
"The metro rail is powered by electricity, and a considerable part of the lines will be underground, thus reducing the pollution on the roads," he said.
Hoque from BUET noted that the railway would indirectly bring down carbon emissions, as fewer vehicles on the roads cut fuel use and related emissions from petrol and diesel.
The first metro rail route is expected to reduce annual emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent by 500,000 tonnes by mid-century, through carrying 1.3 million people daily.
Local jobs
Dhaka's 130 km-long metro rail system, due to be finished by 2030, is expected to create jobs for 12,000 engineers, Prime Minister Hasina said in a speech when inaugurating the first line.
Work opportunities will also come from operating and maintaining the metro rail, as well as station plazas that will house community spaces, parking, markets and other facilities.
An informal economy is already emerging along the new metro line, which runs from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm daily except Tuesday.