Metro rail to stop at Farmgate, Secretariat, Motijheel stations initially

All preparations to inaugurate the Agargaon-Motijheel section of the metro rail in Dhaka will be ended by October 15.

ABM Amin Ullah Noori, secretary to Road Transport and Highways Department, gave the information at a programme on Wednesday.

He said construction and other relevant works of the section will be completed within October 15. Then the date of inauguration will be fixed as per the direction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) Managing Director MAN Siddique said metro rail will run on the section after the day of inauguration, reports bdnews24.com.

The train will initially stop at three stations – Farmgate, the Secretariat, and Motijheel. The other stations will be opened over the course of two months, he said.

Asked whether trains will run to Motijheel from 8 am to 8 pm, DMCTL Managing Director Siddique said, “We will start out by running trains on an abbreviated schedule. Once we see that the entire system is operating smoothly, we will merge it with the rest of the line. The number of train trips will increase over time.”

Not all the trains will go to Motijheel at first, he said.

“Some will go to Motijheel, but others will go as far as Agargaon. The trains will have numbers. The numbers will indicate which trains are going to Agargaon and which are going to Motijheel.”

“Those who are headed to Motijheel will get on their designated train. This is a temporary measure. Complete train service will be available from January.”

On Dec 28, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Dhaka metro rail, opening train service from the Uttara North Station to Agargaon. It was opened to the public the following day. The nine stations along the line were opened in stages.

Construction on the metro rail line from Uttara to Kamalapur Rail Station, dubbed the MRT-6 line, began on Jun 26, 2016. The 21.16-km stretch of rail cost nearly Tk 334.72 billion. It is being built with support from Japanese development organisation JICA.

There are seven stations on the line from Agargaon to Motijheel, which will open in stages. They are Bijoy Swarani, Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, Shahbagh, TSC, the Secretariat, and Motijheel. The Farmgate, Shahbagh, and Motijheel stations will open in October.