At least 95% of construction work of the MRT Line-1 depot has been completed so far, while works are progressing fast aimed at completing the MRT Line-1 by 2028.
Project director of Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project (Line-1) Md Abul Kashem Bhuiyan said under the contract package-1, construction of the depot on 35.90 hectares of land at Pitalganj in Rupganj under Narayanganj district is almost completed.
“The financial progress rose to 88% while the realistic progress stood at 95%. Contract package-1 (CP-1) for construction of civil work of depot and CP-2 documents will be sent to the head office for approval,” he said.
The project director said the MRT Line-1 has a total of 19.8km underground consisting airport route with 12 underground stations while 11.3km elevated from Natun Bazar to Pitalganj depot of Purbachal route with seven elevated and two underground stations is being implemented through a total of 12 packages.
The Line-1, having two parts - the Airport route and the Purbachal route is being constructed with 12 packages, as the construction work of both the route began on February 2, 2023, he added.
According to the project details, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) has been implementing the MRT Line-1 with 12 packages.
Of the packages, the authorities sent draft contract documents of CP-2 and CP-5 to Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on March 13, 2025, after completing the pre-contract negotiation process for getting no objection.
Besides, processes are on for the retendering of CP-3, as no pre-qualified bidder submitted their tender documents during the tender schedule period.
The financial proposal of CP-4 was opened on February 27, 2025, while the evaluation of the financial proposal is underway, it said.
Pre-contract negotiation with the lowest bidder under the CP-6 is going on after getting JICA’s concurrence on evaluation report of the financial proposal on February 13.
The DMTCL is evaluating the technical proposal of the tender documents under contract package-7, which was floated on February 27, 2025.
The authority was re-fixed on April 17 for the opening of the tender documents of the CP-8, which was floated on November 4, 2024.
Technical evaluation proposal reports of CP-9 and 10 were sent on March 2, 202,5 and March 19, 202,5 respectively, to JICA for concurrence.
The tender documents of both packages were invited on December 23, 2024 and December 9, 2024 respectively.
The DMTCL invited the tender of the CP-10 on January 9, 2025. April 22, 2025, will be the last date for submitting tender documents.
The CP-12 was invited on February 19, 2025, while the tender documents will be opened on June 2, 2025.
The project details said the entire MRT Line-1 project is being implemented in 12 packages at a cost of Tk53,977 crore, while the JICA is providing Tk39,450 crore as project assistance and the Bangladesh government is giving Tk14,527 crore.
Experts said 13.66 lakh people can move by this metro rail per day, which is about 2.83 times higher than the existing MRT Line-6.
They said the government is moving forward with the mega plan to build a 140km metro rail network in Dhaka and its adjacent areas by 2030 to reduce traffic congestion.
Once the planned network consisting of six lines comes into reality, 50 lakh people will be able to use the facilities as the lines will cover 129km area of the city - about 68km elevated and about 61km underground - having more than 100 stations.
