Origins and development

In 2005, the World Bank published a study report, recommending that the government of Bangladesh build a mass transit system in Dhaka. In the same year, American consultancy firm Louis Berger Group prepared a strategic transport plan (STP) for Dhaka.^[1] Although the World Bank helped to develop this plan, the draft plan didn't include a mass rapid transit system. It was Bangladeshi civil engineer and national professor Jamilur Reza Choudhury, chairman of the Review Committee of the STP, and his team who suggested a mass rapid transit system be included in the plan.^[2] Three years later of the preparation of the study report by the World Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) joined the metro rail project. In the Urban Traffic Formulation Study, JICA considered MRT Line 6 the most profitable and important of the proposed lines. A feasibility study was conducted for the construction of this line in the financial year 2010–2011.^[3]

A draft route was mapped in 2011. According to this map, the line was supposed to be from Uttara to Sayedabad.^[2] The proposed station at Bijoy Sarani was to be built in front of the Bangabandhu Military Museum, but due to the objection of the Bangladesh Air Force in 2011,^[4] it was planned to be built near the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.^[5] Also, the height of the dome of the station had to be reduced to keep it out of reach of the airport funnel for the nearby Tejgaon Airport.^[6] As per the proposed route map, the line was supposed to pass in front of Begum Rokeya Hall, one of residential buildings of the University of Dhaka. However, due to the objection of the authorities, the government took the initiative to revise the alignment.^[7] The draft route included the Mayor Mohammed Hanif Flyover. However, at the request of the Dhaka Traffic Coordination Board (now Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority or DTCA), its route was diverted from the flyover.^[4] So it was planned to change the route and take it to Sayedabad via Motijheel.^[7] The draft route was supposed to pass the line through Mirpur Cantonment. However the Bangladesh Army objected as it wanted to make the area a residential area, so the line was moved eastward. Even though the line was planned to pass by Tejgaon Airport, later Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered to change the decision considering national security.^{[4][lower-alpha 1]}

Jamilur Reza Choudhury requested the prime minister to change the destination of the line from Sayedabad to Motijheel. He also suggested taking the route through Banglamotor.^[2] Later, the route map was modified slightly to finalize the current route map. JICA wanted to build three metro stations at Uttara above ground, and the remaining stations underground, but E. Sreedharan, an Indian mass transit expert, recommended building an entirely elevated line, as he believed an underground metro line would be to expensive to build and operate. This resulted in the current route, which is entirely on an elevated track.^[1] On 18 December 2012, the project was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC)^[8] and in the next year, JICA hired a consultant and financed the construction of MRT Line 6 and its operator Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) was established.^[3][9] In 2014, the project officials completed the design of metro station of the line.^[10] Its conceptual design was created two years after its approval by ECNEC.^[1] The finalised version of STP, revised in 2016, proposed the construction of five mass rapid transit lines in Dhaka including this line.^{[lower-alpha 2][11]}

Before the line's construction, there were three obstacles in the northern Uttara-Mirpur section. The first obstacle was the narrowness of the local road from Uttara to Mirpur, which made it impossible to carry out construction work there. The second obstacle was a lake between Uttara and Mirpur. The third was the Sri Sri Gaur Nitai temple located in the route which needed to be moved. Road Transport and Highways Division planned to widen the road to remove the first obstacle. In the case of the second, it was decided to fill the marked area of the lake and remove the soil after the piling work was completed there. After the government held talks with the temple authority, they announced the transfer of the temple, thereby solving all the issues.^[12] After determining the route of the line by the side of Shaheed Minar, it was planned to change the route in the face of objection and take it in front of Teacher-Student Centre, University of Dhaka. In protest of this, the students of Dhaka University conducted various activities from 7 January 2016. They cited the possibility of damage to structures in the university premises, increased traffic jams and disruption to campus activities as reasons for their opposition.^[13] On the other hand, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader ruled out the possibility of moving the metro route from Dhaka University as the construction work would start in two months. He informed that there will be no problem in the activities of the university as sound insulation technology will be used on the metro rail line.^[14] Meetings were held with students to resolve the dispute. After discussing the benefits of a metro station in the Dhaka University area, they withdrew their opposition. The authority of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) objected to the decision of the DTCA to take the proposed route through BSMMU. They were later convinced by DTCA that a station near BSMMU could benefit the patients.^[4] On 27 March 2016, DMTCL signed an agreement with Tokyu Construction Ltd for the construction of the line's depot.^[15]

Initial phases

Construction

Construction of MRT Line 6 at Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue in December, 2019

The construction project was inaugurated on 26 June 2016.^[16] The July 2016 Dhaka attack took place during the call for tenders for the construction of the line, and led to some companies withdrawing from the tender process due to security concerns. Seven Japanese officials associated with the project died in the attack.^[5] About 4 days after the attack, Gowher Rizvi, foreign affairs adviser of the country, said that the attack would not have any negative impact on construction. He wanted to wait a maximum of three months for foreign officials who left after the attack.^[17] Six months later,^[18] with the assurance of the government, the contractors started the construction work.^[5] A detailed design of the line was prepared in August 2016.^[1] In September 2016, works related to the construction of the line's depot at Diabari were started.^[19] On 2 August 2017, the first phase of construction of the MRT Line 6 was officially started.^[20]

DMTCL hired seven contracting firms to work in joint ventures to execute the construction works. One of those seven contracting firms was Abdul Monem Limited, which was the sole Bangladeshi contractor for the construction project.^[19] Also the contractor for an significant part of the construction work was Italian-Thai Development.^[21] As of December 2017, 13.16% of the initial budget was spent on the construction of the project. By 2018, utility transfer was completed for the project from Uttara to Agargaon in the route area.^[22] In April 2018, the installation of spans between the pillars of the line began.^[23] Work of the second phase started from August of the same year.^[24] In February 2019, work began on the viaduct and stations on the Agargaon to Kawran Bazar section of the under-construction line. Till then the overall average progress of the project was 21.50% and the progress of the first phase was 35%.^[25] As of 15 December 2019, 8.15 km of viaducts of a total length of 20 km of the line had been laid. According to the schedule, its rail track was supposed to be laid in the first month of 2020.^[26]

In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic escalated, foreigners involved in the project stopped working and left the country.^[27] The lockdown imposed by the government during the pandemic halted construction for several months. However, when the government allowed work in accordance with the rules to prevent infection, construction work was resumed.^[3] As of October 2020, the construction of Phase 2 was lagging behind Phase 1. A news article published by Prothom Alo attributed this to a later start of construction than the first phase and COVID-19.^[24] In 2021, JICA urged the government to take necessary measures to prevent the spread of infection among the officials and employees involved in the project. The government set up two makeshift hospitals, isolation centers and makeshift dormitories to prevent transmission.^[27] During the pandemic, 668 people involved in construction contracted COVID-19.^[28]

Erecting of all spans of Phase 1 was completed on 28 February 2021.^[29] As of February 2021, the construction progress of the Kawran Bazar to Motijheel section of the second phase was 56%.^[30] Installation of all viaducts on the line was completed on 27 January 2022.^[31] The construction of its depot was completed in June 2022.^[32] Two months after that, the construction progress of MRT Line 6 was 67%.^[33] M.A.N. Siddique, Managing Director of DMTCL, was sure that the project would be successful despite the reserve crisis in 2022.^[34] As of November 2022, the construction progress was 84.22%, while the progress of the first phase from Uttara to Agargaon was at 95%.^[35] As of 8 February 2023, after 41 days of the opening of the first phase, at least 92% of the second phase of the line was complete.^[36] ABM Amin Ullah Nuri, the secretary of the Road Transport and Highways Division, said on 9 August 2023 that the second phase would be completed by 15 October.^[37] However, the construction of all the stations was planned to be completed by December.^[38] But later it was announced that the construction of all the stations would be completed one month late.^[39]

Trial runs and opening

A plaque in Diabari commemorating the opening of the first phase of the line

Initially, the deadline for construction of the line was in 2024. But Sheikh Hasina had instructed to complete the first phase by 2019 and the second phase by 2020.^[40] Later, the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges planned to commission the entire line in 2021 to mark the country's 50 years of independence.^[26] Then phase 1 and 2 were scheduled to be completed by 2025 by DMTCL.^[41] On 29 August 2021, the trial run of the trains on the line under construction began.^[42] It traveled from Diabari Depot to Mirpur 11 that day. The line's train made its longest trial run on 12 December 2021. It traveled from Uttara to Agargaon. The train ran for 11.3 km (7.0 mi). It ran at 100 km/h for 9 km (5.6 mi) and ran at 15–20 km (9.3–12.4 mi) for the rest.^[43] Since the work was not completed, the opening date of the first phase was changed to 16 December of the next year.^[44] From 1 September 2022, the authority started the integrated trial run of the line from Uttara to Agargaon.^[45] A total of 4 trial runs were operated on the Uttara–Agargaon section.^[46]

All the work on Phase 1 was supposed to be completed by 15 December and Sheikh Hasina wanted to inaugurate the Uttara–Agargaon section after the Victory Day.^[47] DMTCL later proposed to open the first phase portion of the line in the last week of December 2022. Based on the proposal, the inauguration date was fixed on 28 December.^[48] On 28 December 2022, the section between Uttara and Agargaon was inaugurated by Sheikh Hasina. The following day, public operations started with trains running non-stop between the two terminals.^[49][50] More stations were gradually introduced into service between January and March. Since 31 March 2023, all nine stations from Uttara to Agargaon on the line are in use.^[51]

On 13 April 2023, Obaidul Quader announced the opening of Phase 2 in November of the same year.^[52] On 18 May 2023, DMTCL announced a trial run from Agargaon to Motijheel in July of the same year.^[53] DMTCL was aiming to launch the second phase by December 2023.^[46] As the government decided to launch the second phase by November, the project officials had planned to reduce the number of trial runs on the Agargaon–Motijheel section.^[46] On 18 June 2023, Obaidul Quader informed that Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate Phase 2 in October 2023.^[54] First trial run from Agargaon to Motijheel started on 7 July 2023.^[55] On 20 August 2023, it was announced that the second phase will be opened after two months.^[56] Later the inauguration date was postponed by three days.^[57] Five days after the date change was announced, the inauguration date was changed again to October 29.^[58] It was decided to shut down metro services for two days for system integration from 14 October to 15 to make the entire line operational.^[59] The inauguration date of Phase 2 was again pushed back to 4 November, showing that the prime minister could not give the time on 29 October 2023.^[60] Metro stations at Farmgate, Bangladesh Secretariat and Motijheel were opened the day after the second phase was inaugurated in 4 November.^[61] All stations went operational by 31 December 2023.^[62]

Kamalapur extension

STP had plans to extend the MRT Line 6 from Motijheel to Kamalapur railway station.^[11] The extension project was decided to be started by the government in 2019.^[63] However, Kajima, the Japanese construction firm responsible for the construction of a multimodal transport hub in Kamalapur, stated that it would withdraw from this project if the government planned to extend the metro line. Bangladesh Railway opposed the extension project of the line with Kajima.^{[lower-alpha 3]} As a result, DMTCL proposed three options to Kajima for extending the line. The first proposal is to build a station on Line 6 above Kamalapur metro station on Line 1 which is underground. The second option was to build the metro station outside the railway station area. According to the third proposal, they needed to apply for land from the ministry of Railways for constructing the station.^[64]

When the contractors involved in the construction project were asked to join the extension project, companies other than Italian-Thai Development showed no interest that delayed the extension.^[65] Extending the line up to Kamalapur would increase the length of the line to about 21 km. The extension pushes the completion date for the line to December 2025.^[66] The extension work started west of the station plaza in January 2023 by Italian-Thai Development.^[67] Piling began in late February. As of May 2023, 38 out of 176 have been completed.^[68] As of 1 June 2023, at least 2.30% of the third phase was complete.^[69] Seven months after the commencement of work on the Kamalapur expansion project, its progress stood at 10%.^[70] In November 2023, the progress of Kamalapur extension stood at 17.30%.^[71]

Future plans

The Strategic Transport Plan finalised in 2015 included the extension of the line to Baipayl in Savar Upazila. But at the same time the Northern Route of MRT Line 5 is supposed to be extended to the same place, so next year the STP was revised and its extension destination was charged to Ashulia instead of Baipayl.^[72] In the first week of May in 2023, M.A.N. Siddique announced a plan to build another part of the line in the north-west through Ashulia and Baipayl to Nabinagar.^[73]

According to the preliminary plan, the route of MRT Line 1 was to be extended to Gazipur, but it was omitted as Dhaka BRT was under construction on the same route. Alternatively, DMTCL planned to take MRT Line 6 north to Gazipur. In 2022, M.A.N. Siddique, showed the interest to extend the line to Tongi.^[72] ABM Amin Ullah Nuri confirmed in April 2023 that the construction of the extension from Uttara North to Tongi would start after the completion of the extension from Motijheel to Kamalapur.^[74] As of 1 May 2023, DMTCL planned to conduct a pre-feasibility study for the Tongi extension.^[75] It was decided to start the feasibility study approximately two weeks after the announcement of the pre-feasibility study. According to the completed pre-feasibility study, the Tongi extension will increase the length of the line by 4.61 km.^[68]

Rolling stock

In 2017, DMTCL ordered 24 six-car commuter trains to Kawasaki Heavy Industries for the initial part of the line with a price tag of ৳4,257.34 crores.^[84] The fleet was built and tested in Japan.^[85] Production of rail coaches started on 16 April 2019.^[26] In February 2020, A sample train arrived in Dhaka. According to the schedule, the trains produced for passenger transport were supposed to arrive in the country in 15 June of the same year.^[86] However, the first train arrived in April 2021^[85] with all trains delivered by March 2023.^[87] The trains of the MRT Line 6 are called "green train" officially.^[88] Trains of this line is currently served by 12 six-car trains, all of which are Kawasaki commuter car sets. Each train car is 19.8m long, 2.95m wide, and 4.1m high, forming 120m long trains. The trains are powered by 1500 V DC via overhead line rail system,^[89][35] are air-conditioned with two air conditioning units in each coach and capable of traveling at up to 100 km/h with ability to increase and decrease 3.5km/h speed per second. These trains have bulletproof glass windows.^[90]

Depot

MRT Line 6 depot is located at Diabari in Uttara. The depot area also has 52 structures including workshops, washing sheds and storage. The depot can accommodate 18 trains, which have to go north from Uttara North metro station through a 300 metres long workshop to reach the depot.^[91] The depot has an operation control center from where trains can be controlled by communicating with the train driver using radio antennas mounted on the line under the direction of the controller.^[92] An exhibition and information center was planned to be set up at the depot so that people could experience the metro services.^[93] It was opened on 6 September 2022.^[94]

Station

Exterior and interior of Uttara North metro station

Stations of the line have a ground level and an additional two levels. Access to the first or concourse level is via stairs or elevators from the ground. It houses the station staff's office, waiting room and ticket counter.^[95] There is a system of one time ticketing from the first level. From the first level through the automatic fare collection zone, one has to take an escalator or elevator to reach the second level where the train platforms are located.^[96]

Features

To meet the cost of the line, DMTCL has planned to build a transit-oriented development (TOD) hub centered around the Uttara Center metro station. For this purpose, the authority has decided to purchase 29 acres of Uttara Model Town (3rd Phase) from Capital Development Authority at a cost of ৳866 crore. In the future, TOD hubs will be built around all the stations belonging to the line.^[97] Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) provides bus services to Uttara North and Agargaon metro station for the convenience of passengers to reach the station. Buses ply from Uttara North to House Building and Agargaon to Motijheel.^[98] Besides, BRTC has launched two bus services named 24 and 25 for four metro stations which will stop at Agargaon, Mirpur 10, Khamarbari and Bijoy Sarani respectively.^[99] Smart delivery lockers are being installed at all stations as per the agreement of Aspire to Innovate with DMTCL.^[100]

Services

After opening, the service was initially limited to four hours a day from 8am to 12 noon, and no trains ran on Tuesday.^[49] From 25 January, the service time was set to 8:30am–12:30pm.^[101] From 5 April 2023, the line operated for 6 hours every day from 8am to 2pm until the activation of new schedule.^[102] In February 2023, DMTCL had planned to implement the new schedule from July due to the mismatch of the line's schedule with the demands of working people.^[103]

On 18 May 2023, DMTCL announced a new schedule that had been activated from 31 May: with this schedule, the line is to operate every day except Friday, with a peak hour service at 10 minute intervals from 8 am to 11 am and from 3 pm to 6 pm, and an off-peak service at 15 minute intervals from 11 am to 3 pm and from 6 pm to 8 pm.^[104] It was made effective from the date DMTCL announced.^[69]

In 4 June, the company announced that the off-peak hour headway would be reduced by 3 minutes from the following day.^[105] The authority announced on 20 June 2023 that they changed peak hour to 8 am to 11 am and 4.01 pm to 8 pm with 10 minutes headway and off-peak to 11.01 am to 4 pm with 15 minutes headway that would be activated after two days.^[106] From 8 July 2023, it was decided to extend the service by another thirty minutes from 8 am to 8.30 pm with the last thirty minutes reserved only for passengers using Rapid Pass and MRT Pass.^[107]

As per the plan, operational time will be changed from 7 am to 11.30 pm after the second phase. At first, even if the entire line is opened, except for certain trains, the rest will go up to Agargaon.^[108] After the inauguration of the second phase, it was decided to keep the train running at the newly launched Farmgate, Bangladesh Secretariat and Motijheel Metro Station from 7:30 am to 11:30 pm for a total of 4 hours.^[61] However, from 6 November 2023, the authorities have conditionally relaxed this rule in the case of trains going from Motijheel to Uttara after 11.30 am.^[109] From 8 November 2023, two special trains have been launched to run from Uttara to Motijheel at 7.10 am and 7.20 am considering the students and employees.^[110] On 12 November 2023, the authority allocated four trains from Motijheel to Uttara from 11.40 am to 12.12 pm for MRT and Rapid Pass users.^[111]

The minimum ticket price of metro rail for Line 6 is fixed at ৳20 and the fare is fixed at ৳5 per km. 12 trains have been allotted for this line, of which 2 trains are kept as backup trains.^[35] Sub-stations with 132 kV circuits have been set up at Motijheel, Uttara and Shewrapara for uninterrupted power supply to the line.^[112] Currently five coaches are in use on this line.^[70] Dhaka Metro Rail has reserved an entire compartment only for women on each train.^[113]

Ridership

On the opening day, it was used by 3857 passengers.^[80] There were 90 thousand passengers in 10 days of activity.^[79] In January, 3,35,000 passengers used its service.^[81] From January to March, its total ridership was 1.077 million.^[82] According to the data provided in July 2023, the line carries around 70,000 passengers regularly.^[70] As of August 2023, the number of daily passengers on this line has increased by another 10,000.^[114] After the inauguration of the second phase in November 2023, the number of users of the line stands at least 0.1 million daily.^[115] According to a DMTCL study, the daily ridership of the line will be 4,83,000 in 2024.^[116]

Incidents

On the first day of operation, the ticket vending machines at the station became unusable, causing passengers to have problems getting tickets.^[117] The authority attributed the problem to the failure of the vending machine because the machines did not have enough money to dispense high-value banknotes.^[118] After two days the authority succeeded in solving the problem.^[119] Also, on 1 January 2023, metro service was suspended for two hours in the morning after New Year's Eve because a string of sky lanterns fell onto the line's overhead wire.^[120] After two hours its operation was resumed.^[121] DMTCL lost a revenue of ৳3,15,370 due to stoppage of trains for two hours during that time.^[122] On February 19 this year, the down line of the MRT Line 6 was temporarily suspended due to a kite getting stuck.^[123] Then again six days later, metro services were temporarily suspended due to the same reason.^[124]

On 30 April 2023, a rock was thrown at a window of a train bound for Uttara North metro station around Kazipara metro station. Although no one was injured or the window was broken, the window glass was cracked. After the incident, the DMTCL filed a complaint against the unidentified miscreants at the nearby Kafrul Thana.^[125] Later, a case was registered against the unidentified persons under the Metrorail Act, 2015 and the police started an investigation to identify them.^[126] In the case document, DMTCL stated that the vandalism caused a loss of ৳10 lakh to the company.^[127] Police investigation identified 7-8 possible buildings from which the rock could have been hurled. On the other hand, from the video footage, the metro authority identified the building from where the stone was hurled. On 6 May, the managing director of DMTCL claimed that most of the people in the building had fled their apartments. But he also said that they will be captured.^[128] Following the incident, the Detective Branch began monitoring the buildings around the line. Besides, several rules and restrictions have been issued for access to the roofs of tall buildings.^[129] The police officers of the police station of Kafrul identified 5 people as suspects in a two-month investigation, but due to lack of evidence, they could not identify the culprits and arrest them.^[130]

On 23 July 2023, a man was traveling from Pallabi metro station to Uttara North metro station when he saw a passenger in the train asking other passengers for alms. He recorded the video of the beggar and uploaded it on Facebook which went viral. As soon as they reached Uttara, he complained to the authorities and the beggar was arrested.^[131] On 7 August 2023, the first train left at 8:40 AM instead of 8 AM due to technical issues. Two days later, metro services on the line were suspended for two and a half hours due to an electrical fault.^[132] Then on 21st of the same month at around 8.30 am a train was stuck on the line for more than an hour due to an emergency brake which stopped the operation for that time.^[133] On 5 November 2023, the operational activities of Motijheel metro station was disrupted due to a technical fault in the automatic ticketing machines.^[71]

Construction

Before the construction work started in 2016, the residents along the route were suffering due to the digging of the road to lay underground electrical cables for the construction in Mirpur.^[134] Although people suffered during construction, the use of safety barriers reduced the suffering.^[135]

On 29 June 2021, Dhaka North Mayor Atiqul Islam alleged that DMTCL was given a condition to coordinate with the Dhaka North City Corporation to carry out the construction work, but as they violated the condition, people faced problems during the construction of two stations in Kazipara and Shewrapara.^[136] Due to the construction work, the usable roads and streets became narrow. As a result, pedestrians and vehicular movement became difficult and the route became more dangerous.^[137]

According to a report published by the private research organization Save the Road on 21 August 2022, mismanagement and inefficiency in the construction of the MRT Line 6 resulted in a loss of ৳2,140.12 crores in addition to 11,860 working hours being lost. In addition, 3,562 people fell ill due to environmental pollution and 54 patients died as they couldn’t get medical treatment by ambulance as soon as possible caused by the construction work on the roads and streets.^[138] According to a news article published by Bangla Tribune, the owners of shopping malls situated along the route of MRT Line 6 suffered losses due to the ongoing construction work in Mirpur area.^[139]

The line was built on 13-meter-high pillars. But outside of the country, metro lines are built at a height of more than 15 meters. As the line is lower than 15 meters except for the section at Farmgate, it is impossible to construct any flyover or megastructure on its route. The extension project of Moghbazar-Mouchak Flyover was declared terminated for the same reason. The decision to build the line at a height of 13 meters was criticized by experts.^[140]

Metro station construction sites lacked sufficient space, so there was no other option but to use pavement space to build escalators. So experts suggested land acquisition for setting up escalators. According to them, the use of sidewalk space for the installation of escalators would increase the traffic jams on the streets.^[141] DMTCL had a dispute with Dhaka North City Corporation authority in 2022 due to a lack of space for the MRT Line 6 station's landings and use of pavement space.^[142] Atiqul Islam called on the builders to refrain from constructing landings on the footpath as it will be difficult for pedestrians to walk.^[143]

ফুটপাত আট ফুট চওড়া আর সিঁড়ি সাত ফুট। ফুটপাত এক ফুটের হয়ে গেলে যাত্রী স্টেশনে যাবেন কী করে? পথচারী চলবে কোন দিক দিয়ে?

The sidewalk is eight feet wide and the stairs are seven feet. If the footpath becomes one foot, how will the passenger go to the station? In which direction will the pedestrian walk?

— Atiqul Islam, When he came to see the work of the Mirpur 10 metro station^[144]

Atiqul Islam criticized the arrangement saying that DMTCL did not acquire the land before construction for the landings and used the footpath space, saying that it should be ensured that people do not suffer due to the construction of stations.^[145] As a result, DMTCL announced the acquisition of land for the landing space of stations. This announcement added some complexity to the construction project.^[142] Besides, during the construction, the pillars of the project was placed on the drains of different areas of the city corporation, causing the city corporation authority to face difficulties in various tasks.^[146] According to a news article reported by New Age in October 2022, construction of entry and exit points for Pallabi, Mirpur 11 and Shewrapara stations had become challenging due to reluctance of residents of the greater Mirpur area to sell plot.^[147]

All the pillars of MRT Line 6 are built on the road median except a pillar of its portal frame at Farmgate, placed in the middle of the road to the left of the median, making the road accident-prone and increasing traffic jams on the road. According to the DMTCL authority, this happened because the contractors of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway project did not work in coordination with them during the construction work at Farmgate.^[148]

Fare

DMTCL constituted a Fare Fixing Committee to fix the fare of the MRT Line 6, in a meeting held on 10 January 2021, the committee fixed ৳2.40 per kilometer as the proposed fare. The proposed rent was determined based on the break-even point. According to the proposal, the fare from Uttara North to Motijheel was supposed to be ৳48.25.^[149] On 6 September 2022, Obaidul Quader announced a fare of ৳5 per kilometer and a minimum fare of ৳20. This finalized minimum fare is higher than Kolkata and Delhi Metro in India and Lahore Metro in Pakistan.^[150]

On 17 December 2022, the Secretary General of Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association demanded to reduce the fare per kilometer and the minimum fare by half considering the interests of the passengers.^[151] On the other hand, on 26 December 2022, the Institute for Planning and Development demanded a 30% reduction in fares to encourage passengers to use the line.^[152] In a press conference held the next day, the managing director of DMTCL mentioned electricity price and profit as the reason for fixing higher fare rate.^[153]

In a meeting of the Standing Committee of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) held on the same day, Nazrul Islam Khan claimed that the fixed fare conflicted with the Metrorail Act, 2015. In the meeting, he criticized the government's decision stating that metro fares are higher than bus fares in the country.^[154] On 29 December 2022, Obaidul Quader stated that fares are not an issue here and that Dhaka's fixed fares are low when compared to mass rapid transit systems in Thailand and Malaysia.^[155] On 24 August 2023, Muhammad Abdul Mannan, the planning minister, said that the government is making efforts to reduce the ticket fares so that it is possible for common people to travel by mass rapid transit.^[156]

Others

In 2013, the Odhikar Unnoyon Songstha reported that the government had illegally appointed Nippon Koei as the consultant in violation of existing rules. Based on the report, JICA warned the government about this, but the government was adamant about its decision.^[157] In a meeting held next year, Obaidul Quader expressed his fear and said that if there is any corruption in the Metrorail project, he would have no other option but to leave the ministry. The DTCA authority in the meeting then assured the minister that there is no scope for corruption as there are various parties including JICA as reviewers in the consultant recruitment process.^[158] In 2023, Syed Imran Saleh Prince, Acting and Organizing Secretary of the Central Office of BNP, claimed that there has been unlimited corruption and irregularities in the construction of MRT Line 6.^[159]

The Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) conducted a technical survey and evaluation of nine metro stations. Based on that survey, they requested DMTCL on 27 September 2022 for permission to install antennas to maintain an uninterrupted mobile network in station buildings along with prepared plans. However, the managing director of DMTCL said it was impossible due to technical and architectural reasons and advised the mobile operators to install antennas in the adjacent areas of the route. In response, the mobile operators said that due to legal reasons, they are not allowed to do so on the roofs of residential buildings and government buildings and it is not their responsibility to install towers.^[160]

Experts criticized the decision to open the entire line from Uttara to Agargaon in 2022. According to passengers and experts, instead of opening the entire line, opening half of the line will increase rather than reduce the suffering of the people.^[161]

The maintenance of public toilets at stations on MRT Line 6 has been leased by DMTCL to Boisakhi Security Services Limited who charge passengers ৳10 to use the toilets. This decision was criticized by passengers.^[162]

Notes

Citations