The Dhaka Metro Rail authorities have reported achieving equilibrium in their operations, despite only running trains for a limited four-hour window on a daily basis along the Agargaon-Uttara stretch of the Mass Rapid Transit Line-6.
MAN Siddique, the director of the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), which manages the metro rail service, on Thursday said their income and expenditure have evened out.
"Our current position is at the break-even point, and we are incurring no losses," he explained.
MAN Siddique further stated that a more accurate reflection of the company's revenue will emerge when train frequency increases and full-service is made available to the public.
Apart from ticket sales, he said the mass transit firm has already begun generating income from commercial spaces.
Siddique, a former secretary of the Road Transport and Highways Division, earlier said the average cost of 65 to 70 per cent of MRT's earnings mainly comes from ticket sales and the remaining 30 per cent from businesses like advertisement and transit-oriented development (ToD).
The DMTCL commenced the trial commercial run of an 11.7-kilometre stretch of the total 21 km metro transit route that links Dhaka's Uttara and Motijheel on December 29 last year.
Initially, trains on the Agargaon-Uttara route used to skip the stations on the way as the stopovers have been gradually increased to seven now.
MAN Siddique declared that starting March 15, trains will pick up and drop passengers at Mirpur-11 and Kazipara. The remaining two stations - Uttara South and Shewrapara - will be opened in the last week of March.
He disclosed that some 7,90,000 passengers have travelled by the metro trains till Wednesday, as the ticket sales amounted to Tk 47.6 million. Some 16,910 Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Passes were sold.
In reply to a query, the MD also said MRT-6 earnings now vary every week, as it may take time to get a clear picture.
Officials said the DMTCL has already formulated a policy guideline for commercial uses of its spaces. There are scopes for renting the spaces for filmmaking or displaying advertisements.
But sources said the DMTCL is yet to start earning from those segments.
Regarding ToD, the MD said the company has provided necessary information like total land area or neighbourhood to the interested investors including Japanese clients.
While replying to a question about operating the full-fledged operation on Uttara to Agargaon route, Siddique said gradually the time of operation will be extended targeting to operate from early morning to midnight by July.
smunima@yahoo.com
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