The Dhaka University and Bijoy Sarani stations of the metro rail will be opened on December 13.
"While inaugurating the second part of the metro rail, I said all stations up to Motijheel will be opened within the next three months. In that continuation, Dhaka University and Bijoy Sarani stations are being opened on December 13,” said Managing Director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) MAN Siddique at a press conference on Thursday.
With this, 14 out of 16 stations from Uttara to Motijheel are being opened. Authorities have also said it may take at least six months to run the metro rail services till midnight.
The DMTCL managing director said there will be no change in the timing of the metro rail services even if the stations are opened. “Shahbagh and Kawranbazar metro rail stations will be opened in phases.”
The official added that once all the stations of the Motijheel part are opened, the metro rail will run till 8:30pm by adjusting the time with the Agargaon part. After updating the software, the metro rail will run fully till midnight.
Metro rail project
The cost of the country’s first-ever metro rail project stands at Tk33,472 crore. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provided Tk19,719 crore in the form of a loan to support the project, while the Government of Bangladesh funded the remaining amount.
In the beginning, the estimated cost of this project was about Tk21,000 crore. The cost has increased due to the construction of an additional 1.6 km section from Motijheel to Kamalapur, the acquisition of new land for each station, and the addition of various new facilities.
The main construction work of the project started in 2017.
