Bangladesh’s first-ever metro rail made a trial run on a fully electric line on Uttara-Agargaon route Sunday morning.
As part of the trial run or performance test, the train left Uttara’s Diabari Depot around 9:39am without any passenger and reached the Agargaon station around 11:00am plying about 11.73km. Only technical experts were on board the train during the performance test.
During the trial run, performance tests of nine stations between Uttara and Agargaon were carried out. The stations were Uttara North, Uttara Centre, Uttara South, Pallabi, Mirpur-11, Mirpur-10, Kazipara, Sheorapara and Agargaon.
The speed of the train up to Mirpur-10 station was 100km per hour. From there the train was operated at a speed of 15km per hour up to Agargaon Station.
Metro rail project manager ABM Arifur Rahman said the coaches left for Agargaon this morning. The main official programme will be held at Agargaon in the capital.
The metro rail is scheduled to start commercial operation from December 16, 2022.
On November 29, the metro rail travelled to Mirpur-10 for the first time.
Metro rail authorities said Bangladesh’s first metro rail will fully be operated upon electricity. No fossil fuel and liquefied gas will not be used here. So, there is no possibility of air pollution. Side walls on both sides of the tracks have been made with concrete, instead of glass, to dampen noise. The height of the side walls would be 4-4.25feet.
The metro rail will have stations at 16 points in the city–including at Uttara, Pallabi, Mirpur, Kazipara, Shewrapara, Agargaon, Bijoy Sarani, Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, Shahbagh, TSC, Press Club, and Motijheel.
The Tk 21,985 crore (around $2.5 billion) ambitious project is aimed at easing traffic congestion in the capital city through an improved, faster, comfortable and time-bound public transportation service.
According to the project director, a train with six air-conditioned spacious cars will operate every four minutes, enabling a commuter to travel from Uttara to Motijheel in just 38 minutes, which now takes around two hours on a week day.
A total of 24 such trains would carry 60,000 passengers every hour to both directions and drastically cut the number of private cars on the streets, said Mofazzel Hossain, project director of Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development (DMRTD) Project.
The metro rail cars would be air-conditioned and sealed. So, commuters will not be able to throw things out the windows.
