Government appoints consultants for Dhaka’s underground rail service

An international consortium of eight companies, led by the Bangladesh chapter of the top Japanese firm of Nippon Koei, has won the bid to consult on the construction of Bangladesh’s first underground train services in Dhaka.

MAN Siddique, managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited, or DMTCL, and Naoki Kudo, managing director of Nippon Koei Bangladesh, signed the deal at a ceremony in Dhaka on Sunday, reports bdnews24.com.

The other seven companies are - Nippon Koei’s Japan and Indian chapter, Japan-based Oriental Consultants Global and Katahira Engineers International, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in India, France’s Systra and Bangladesh’s Development Design Consultants Ltd.

The 31.241 km project, known as MRT Line-1, will have 12 stations in its 19.87 km underground part from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Kamalapur and the elevated part, 11.36km from Notun Bazar to Purbachal, will have nine stations.

The Bangladesh government approved the Tk 525.6143 billion project, co-funded by Bangladeshi taxpayers and Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, last year and targeted to implement it by December 2026.

The consortium won the bid for consultation at Tk 15.1724 billion and taxpayers will bear Tk 3.9336 billion to foot the bill.

At the ceremony, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader thanked the Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Naoki Ito, who was also present there, by saying: “A new horizon opens for Bangladesh to lockstep with the modern world by implementing this development project with your fund.”