Afiza set to make history

The Dhaka Metro Rail is set to usher in a new era of mass transportation in the country and six women are going to be in the driver's seat when the trains whizz through the tracks overhead, reports bdnews24.com.

One of them, Maryam Afiza, has been preparing for a year to make history and is now raring to go.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the metro rail's Uttara-Agargaon section on December 28. "All preparations for the inauguration ceremony have been completed," said MAN Siddique, managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited. "An adequate number of drivers, including five to six women, have been appointed to run all the trains. They've completed their training."

Siddique declined to name the drivers and passengers who will make the first run for security reasons.

After her appointment in November 2021, Afiza, who completed her Master's in applied chemistry and chemical engineering from Noakhali Science and Technology University, spent two months at the Railway Training Academy in Chattogram's Halishahar. She then underwent another four months of training in Dhaka before starting to learn the technical and practical aspects of the transit system at the depot in Diabari under the guidance of experts from Japan's Mitsubishi-Kawasaki company, the manufacturer of the metro rail trains. Afiza is excited to be on the roster of metro rail drivers. "I never worked as a driver before. I've completed several training sessions since my recruitment. I'm still training."

The fact that she is among the first people to do the job does not faze her. "I've completed all the training stages as a driver. Maybe I'll start driving trains with passengers in a few days."

"I feel that I've trained properly and acquired all the necessary skills. I'm still constantly training to acquire more skills."

State-owned company DMTCL is in charge of executing the Japan-financed project. The initial budget of Tk 219.85 billion for the entire Uttara-Motijheel section was overrun and later revised up to about Tk 334.72 billion after the route was extended to Kamalapur in the plan.