After the country’s first metro rail from Uttara to Motijheel, now under implementation, the government is planning to construct another metro rail from Airport to Kamalapur linking Purbachal to make the city’s road transport system more safe, modern and environment-friendly.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges has mooted a plan to construct the 27-kilometer metro rail to be known as MRT-1 from Airport to Kamalapur station via Purbachal new town.
“To materialize this mega initiative, the Planning Commission has already received a proposal from the ministry to frame the design of the proposed line with an estimated cost of Taka 710 crore,” said a senior Planning Commission official.
The official told BSS that Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited has been assigned to implement the project for framing the design of the MRT Line-1 by December 2021 with Taka 405-crore loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Officials at the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges informed the news agency that the traffic congestion in the capital is growing day by day due to the increased population and growing number of vehicles.
They said the registered number of vehicles in the city increased to 95,400 in 2013 which was only 20,500 in 2001.
“To address this situation, the government approved the revised strategic transport plan (RSTP) on August 29, 2016 which suggested setting up five MRT lines and two BRT lines in the capital to build a strong transportation network,” said a senior official of the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges.
The official said the feasibility study for the project has already been completed where the route has been proposed at Airport-Khilkhet-Natun Bazar-Badda-Malibagh-Kamalapur while another route would go to Jamuna Future Park-Bashundhara-Purbachal.
