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Bangladesh authorities have taken steps to ensure that women are able to make use of the country’s first metro rail in Dhaka in comfort.
One carriage per train has been reserved for women, but they can also travel in other coaches, reports bdnews24.com.
MAN Siddique, managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited, highlighted various aspects of the electric train at an event organised on Dec 12 by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which financed a major portion of the project.
"The metro rail will have six coaches. One coach will be reserved for women only. However, women can also travel in other coaches if they wish to,” Siddique said.
The metro rail will be launched on Dec 28. However, in the first stage, the train will only cover a distance of 11.73 km from Uttara to Agargaon. It will take 20 minutes to complete the journey. The time will be 16-17 minutes once the train is fully functional.
There are nine metro rail stations along the Uttara-Agargaon route. Siddique highlighted the special facilities for women, pregnant women, children and the elderly at the stations.
Metro stations will have separate bathrooms for women passengers and special facilities for diaper changing. Seats will also be reserved inside coaches for pregnant women and elderly passengers.
The metro rail will not launch full-scale operations immediately after inauguration, according to DMTCL. The train will only operate in the morning and afternoon during the first week. The operating hours will be gradually increased. The train fare has been fixed at Tk 5 per km. The minimum fare is Tk 20.
Officials in charge of construction and management of the metro rail said that the six-coach train was made with up-to-date technology and will run at a maximum speed of 100 kmph.
The metro rail section from Agargaon to Motijheel will launch in December 2023 in the second phase and the section up to Kamalapur afterwards, Siddique said.
Officials said that the sale of train tickets would begin after the announcement of the inauguration ceremony. Initially, MRT passes will be issued and can only be recharged from station counters.
Single-journey tickets can also be purchased from station counters or ticket vending machines.
Siddique said that 10 trains will be kept ready before the inauguration. Two more trains will be prepared as a backup.
In 2013, the government signed a loan agreement with Japan for the construction of the metro rail after conducting research and feasibility studies. Detailed design work for the project began the following year.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, DMTCL decided to delay the launch of the mega project to December 2022.