Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be the first passenger of metro rail following its inauguration on December 28.
She will ride the Bangladesh's first-ever elevated metro rail after purchasing a ticket that day, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) Chairman ABM Amin Ullah Nuri revealed the information on Wednesday.
For security reasons, only the prime minister and the VVIP guests will board the metro rail on the inauguration day. The metro rail services will be open for general people on December 29, he said.
DMTCL Managing Director (MD) MAN Siddique told Bangla Tribune: “From December 29, rapid passes and general tickets can be collected from the counters. Rapid pass will be issued for 10 years. People will have to apply online for a rapid pass.”
He said that the metro rail will run for four hours every morning. It will only stop at Pallabi station on its route from Uttara to Agargaon station.
Earlier, the DMTCL MD said the service would initially be available to a limited number of passengers. Full-fledged operation will be possible within two or three months of its inception.
"A total of 12 trains are ready for operation, but initially, 10 trains having six coaches each will run. The remaining two will be on standby to ensure an uninterrupted metro rail service in case of any problem or technical glitch," Siddique said.
He added that all 24 trains would be operational when the entire route from Uttara to Kamalapur was complete.
Noting that the metro rail service will be launched up to Motijheel by December 2023 and Kamalapur by June 2025, Siddique said a train from Uttara north station will reach Agargaon station within 20 minutes while it will take only 40 minutes to reach Kamalapur station once the service goes on a full operation.
The authorities fixed the fare for the metro rail at Tk5 per kilometre, with a minimum fare of Tk20.
A passenger will have to pay Tk100 to travel the full length of the route from Uttara to Kamalapur.
Additionally, buses operated by the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) will ply from Agargaon and Uttara North (Diabari) stations to facilitate the travel of passengers of metro rail.
