Metro rail to have mainline performance test in August

Bangladesh’s first overhead metro train, the latest communication system in the country, will start its mainline performance test on viaduct in August.

“We will begin mainline performance test on viaduct in August after functional test, which is being carried out inside the depot,” Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited Managing Director MAN Siddique told BSS on Monday.

He said the integrated test would be carried out after the mainline performance test on viaduct and then the trial run of the first metro train would be conducted.

Meanwhile, the second set of metro train reached the depot before 15 days of the scheduled time, MAN Siddique added.

He said the construction of all metro stations was going on in full swing amid the coronavirus pandemic with maintaining health guidelines strictly.

According to the project details, the third and fourth shipment of metro train set is scheduled to be done on June 11, which will reach the country on August 13.

The fifth set will start its journey from Japan on July 16 and is expected to anchor on September 17. The real progress of this package is 44.91 per cent.

It said the civil work progress of the first phase construction of metro rail from Uttara to Agargaon is 85.74 per cent and the second phase progress from Agargaon to Motijheel is 62.50 per cent, while the coordinated progress of electrical and mechanical system and rolling stock (rail coach) and procurement of depot equipment stood at 56.04 per cent.

Besides, platform construction of Uttara North, Uttara Centre, Uttara South, and Pallabi stations have been completed, while platform construction of Mirpur-11, Kazipara, and Shewrapa stations is going on.

The metro rail is projected to carry 60,000 passengers per hour by traveling the entire route of 21.26km from Uttara to Motijheel-Kamalapur Railway Station in less than 40 minutes.

The project details also said if the current pace of work continues by following safety rules during the ongoing coronavirus situation, the rail project might be completed within December 2022.

The length of the metro rail route up to Motijheel was 20.10km. But now it is extended by 1.16km to Kamalapur Railway Station. As a result, the number of stations has also increased to 16.

To deal with the ongoing pandemic, a 10-bed isolation centre (field hospital) at Gabtoli construction site and a 14-bed isolation centre (field hospital) at Uttara Ponchoboti construction yard were constructed, Siddique said.

He said persons infected with Covid-19 are kept in home or institutional quarantine and if needed, they will be admitted to a dedicated hospital.

The project details said there will be a total of 16 stations of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-6.

The stations are – Uttara North, Uttara Centre, Uttara South, Pallabi, Mirpur-11, Mirpur-10, Kazipara, Shewrapara, Agargaon, Bijoy Sarani, Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, Shahbagh, Dhaka University, Bangladesh Secretariat, and Motijheel.

The iconic stations will be at Diabari, Mirpur, and Motijheel, while other stations will be constructed ordinarily.