Bangladesh launches its first metro rail service in Dhaka

• Line 6, a Japanese-funded project, was launched in Dhaka.
• The 20-kilometer road will connect Dhaka’s hospitals and government offices.
• It will eventually reach the southern financial area of Motijheel.

Bangladesh began its first metro train service in Dhaka on Wednesday, hoping it will improve traffic in one of the world’s most congested cities.

The largely Japanese-funded project, known as Line 6, was inaugurated at a ceremony by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina — who described the new railway as a “milestone,” the Dhaka Tribune reported. “Another feather added to the crown of the development of Bangladesh,” she said.

She also said the Dhaka metro will “substantially” reduce traffic bottlenecks in the city.
The 20-kilometer line will connect Dhaka’s northern zone to government offices and hospitals for now, according to the state-run Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL).

It will eventually reach the southern financial area of Motijheel.

Dhaka’s traffic bottlenecks and car-clogged highways frustrate its 20 million citizens.

According to WHO figures, more than 3,000 Bangladeshis die in vehicle accidents annually. Two students were murdered by a speeding bus in 2018, sparking violent protests.

Dhaka’s infrastructure is inadequate, say experts. Overreliance on cars and lack of coordinated public transport, they claim, exacerbate the problem.

Shawana Chowdhury, an undergraduate student at Bangladesh University, spends hours in buses, rickshaws and cars each day. She said she was looking forward to “transforming her daily commute.”

“A lot of my life is technically wasted away in traffic,” she told Media. “This is such an important change for Bangladeshis. Public transport has the power to change our lives.”

The new metro line was a beacon of hope for improving the lives of Dhaka’s residents, she said.

“Great world cities in Singapore, Japan and France have superb developed public transport systems,” she said. “I hope within time, Dhaka will see its own transformation — less cars and road pollution with the metro becoming the norm.”

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