Construction of Bangladesh's first-ever underground metro rail inaugurated

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has inaugurated the construction work of the country's first-ever underground metro rail. It comes within a month after opening the metro rail from Uttara's Diabari to Agargaon.

The prime minister unveiled the inaugural plaque of the construction work of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-1 at sector 4 at Purbachal of Pitalganj in Rupganj of Narayanganj district on February 2.

Sheikh Hasina earlier on December 28 last opened the 11.73 km part of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-6 of the metro rail project from the Diabari to Agargaon by unveiling its plaque at Diabari in the capital city.

The government will construct the MRT Line-1 having both underground and elevated facilities from Airport to Kamalapur and Purbachal to Natun Bazar with an estimated cost of Tk 52,561.43 crore by 2026.

A total of six metro rail routes will be inaugurated in the capital city Dhaka by 2030.

Bangladesh government and the development partner agency Japan International Cooperation (JICA) will bear expenses of Tk 52,561.43 crore for construction work of the MRT Line-1, of which JICA will provide Tk 39,450.32 crore as project assistance (PA) and Bangladesh government will give Tk 13,111.11 crore.

Japanese firm-led consortium will oversee the construction of the Airport-Kamalapur-Purbachal metro line.

After the launch of MRT Line 1, eight lakh passengers will be able to travel through the route every day.