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The Dhaka metro rail company has decided to invite fresh tenders for the universal ticketing service (UTS) at all stations by cancelling the previous one.
It says the decision has been made to avoid complications that arose over receiving applications by the deadline due to the Milestone school plane crash.
Officials say 13 companies submitted bids at 3pm on July 21, the last day to do so.
The offers were submitted a few hours after the plane crashed at the school in the capital's Diabari, which is close to the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) office.
Officials say DMTCL received documents till 3:30pm, but many later complained as they had been stuck on the road due to the tragic accident.
DMTCL Managing Director Faruque Ahmed says fresh tenders will be invited to avoid these complications.
"We will invite tenders within the shortest possible time, adhering to the new Public Procurement Rules," he tells The Financial Express on the phone.
Sources say new tenders are also necessary to avoid complications over approval and evaluation of the entire UTS process.
They say the DMTCL board approved introducing the service but did not provide any guideline on how to select the company.
As DMTCL lacks the technical capability, there are information shortages in tenders.
UTS has been planned to modernise e-ticketing at the metro rail stations.
It includes the QR code system for single journeys, credit card use, mobile banking, etc.
Bids were invited on April 28, prompting interest among around 30 local and international companies.
DMTCL plans to complete the process on the public-private partnership basis.
For a certain period, private companies will make the entire investment in installing infrastructure, as well as developing the required hardware and software.
In another major move, DMTCL has decided to increase MRT-6 train operation time by nearly an hour.
The first train will leave at 6:30am from the Uttara North station and 7:15am from Motijheel.
Besides, the last train will leave at 9:30pm from the Uttara North station and at 10:10pm from Motijheel.
The first two sets of trains will be operated from both ends at a 10-minute interval.
For the rest, the interval will be six to eight minutes, which will be reduced to five minutes soon to increase passenger capacity.
The new schedule will take effect on Sunday.
Officials say with the operation time increase, train frequency will be increased to 243 from the present 238.
However, as DMTCL plans to increase frequency by reducing intervals to five minutes, passenger capacity is likely to increase by 7-8 per cent.
At present, MRT-6 ridership increases to nearly 450,000 on peak days.
smunima@yahoo.com