Metro rail test trip successful

FE Team | Published: December 13, 2021 00:45:45

The long-desired metro rail will go for commercial operation on December 16, 2022, as its performance test on the viaduct from Uttara to Agargaon in the capital began Sunday, report agencies.
"We hope that the much-awaited metro train service will be opened from Uttara to Agargaon by December 16 next year," Managing Director (MD) of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) M A N Siddique told journalists after the performance test at Agargaon station in the city.
He said the metro rail would start commercial operation through the entire route in December 2023.
On Sunday, the train, brought from Japan, reached Agargaon at 11:00 am, noted Mr Siddique.
"The second metro train from Japan, which has six coaches, reached Agargaon at 11:00 am. It travelled at a speed of 100 km per hour from Diabari to Mirpur-10, and then reduced the speed to 15 to 25 km per hour while running from Mirpur-10 to Agargaon," he told the media.
"The metro rail trains will run on time and according to schedule. They'll reach each station at the exact time mentioned in the schedule. We're conducting performance tests to ensure that they run on time."
"We aimed to conduct a test trip from Uttara to Agargaon in December, the month of our victory, marking the golden jubilee of the nation's independence. We have succeeded," he added.
These test trips are made to ensure proper performance when the metro rail opens to the public on Dec 16, 2022.
Earlier, the metro train went for a performance test on a viaduct from Uttara to Pallabi on August 29 and from Uttara to Mirpur 10 on November 29.
According to project details, the 21.26-kilometre-long metro rail project is being constructed in eight packages. The overall progress of construction work from Uttara to Motijheel-Kamalapur Railway is 72.99 per cent at present, while 89.88 per cent of civil work between Uttara and Agargaon has been done.
The DMTCL MD expected that construction of the viaduct to Doel Chattar would be completed within this month, while the viaduct to Motijheel would be finished by January 2022.
Construction of all the stations would be completed within April next year, as the work was going on in full swing.
As of now, seven sets of metro rail train have arrived at Diabari depot, and another one is scheduled to arrive today (Monday). Two more train sets will join the fleet afterwards.
"In total, we'll have 10 metro train sets for commercial operations from Uttara to Agargaon from December 2022," the DMTCL MD informed.
He explained that a train set goes through a functional test after it reaches the depot from Japan. It is followed by performance tests, integration tests, and then trial runs without passengers.
"We hope to complete the trial runs without passengers by September 2022. Then we'll take three months to prepare for the public opening of metro rail on Dec 16, 2022."
Construction of at least six of the nine stations from Uttara to Agargaon, including their roof sheets, has been completed, and the rest would be completed in the next two months.
He was also hopeful that the other works, including electrical wiring and plumbing, would be finished on time.