Metro rail running on a viaduct, stretching from Uttara Diabari to Mirpur, on Friday on an experimental basis. The photo was taken from the Diabari area in the city — Focus Bangla Dhaka city people got a chance to see the metro rail running on a viaduct for the first time on Friday, as the authorities operated the train from Uttara Diabari to Mirpur.
Official sources said the train was taken on the viaduct at around 8: 00 am.
"It was actually to check the train movement manually, in order to ensure that the test run goes smooth… it was rather, according to the contractor, a security check," said MAN Siddique, managing director of the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL).
He said that the test run would start from the Diabari depot on Sunday after a ceremony there, to be attended by Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader.
According to sources, the first set of trains, which has been under various tests since arrival in the depot site on April 23, hit a speed of around 5 kph during the checking on Friday.
The metro train will start picking up the real speed after going through various checks during the performance tests in the next two to three months, they added.
"Actual speed tests will start after two to three months," a project insider told the FE over the phone.
He also said the Japanese company had already hinted about giving a revised schedule on the completion of the Sunday's test run.
While watching the metro rail running on the elevated rail track for the first time, people living in the areas started shouting with joy.
The social media was also flooded with various video footages, celebrating the success of the country's first ever metro rail project.
Earlier, DMTCL announced that it would launch the first metro rail, named Mass Rapid Transit Line 6 (MRT-6), in December 2021 - on the occasion of the 50th victory anniversary of the country.
Amid the coronavirus situation that slowed down the work of the MRT-6, the authority is now trying to launch the first 11 kilometre line from Uttara to Agargaon by December next year.
The government has a plan to develop six MRT lines in the city, of which MRT-6 is being constructed from Uttara to Motijheel at a cost of Tk 219.85 billion.
The DMTCL has recently taken another plan to extend the line from Motijheel to the Kamlapur station so that people using metro rail, having the capacity of carrying 60,000 people per hour, can directly go to the country's largest railway station.
Moreover, people will easily find other modes of vehicles after getting down there, allowing them to travel to their desired destination from the station.
The first set of trains arrived in the depot site one year after the real schedule, due to stoppage of shipment following the coronavirus pandemic.
The train set having six coaches with the capacity of holding 2,308 passengers completed various tests in the depot site from May 11.
DMTCL will take over the charge of the trains after the test run from the Japanese contractor Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.
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