Passengers travelling on metro rail without tickets will be sentenced to six months in jail or will be charged 10 times the ticket price as a fine, according to the amended Metro Rail Bill 2015.
It also says the black-market traders of the metro rail tickets will be fined Tk1 crore or get 10 years in jail.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader made the disclosure at a press conference on the first tender for metro rail at the Secretariat in the capital yesterday morning.
“We have tougher punishment listed on the bill with a view to compelling people to follow the law,” the minister said.
The amended bill was passed in parliament on January 26, the project aiming to curb traffic congestion in the capital by ensuring quick and improved transport services.
The first tender for the pre-qualification of rolling stock (coach and locomotive) and equipment of Uttara depot for the 20-km metro railway project was floated on Saturday.
Under the tender, 24 locomotives and 144 coaches, and equipment for the Uttara depot, will be procured from manufacturers and suppliers at the cost of Tk3,000 crore.
The 24 trains, each having six coaches, will run between Uttara and Motijheel, sources at the ministry said.
“Besides, construction of the metro rail plant, workshop, pperation control centres, electrical building, washing plant, training centre, etc is covered by the tender as well,” Obaidul said.
The tender invitation for eight packages will be completed by the end of this year, he added.
He also said the Tk21,985-crore project will be completed by 2019.
The press conference was attended by Road Transport and Highways Secretary MAN Siddique, Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority’s Executive Director Kaikobad Hossain, and metro rail’s Project Director Md Mofazzal Hossain, among others.
