Bangladesh's maiden metro rail is set to go through a safety inspection by an internationally accredited firm following several accidents and operational disruptions, little over three years after its hasty launch.
Sources say hiring foreign expertise is imperative as a local probe body, formed after a fatal accident, lacks the know-how and has failed to fathom faults for a retrofit.
Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) has decided to take audit certification of the mass- rapid-transit line 6 (MRT 6) by an international firm through opening expression- of-interest tender "soon" as the independent committee formed to carry out audit inspection following last October's fatal accident also felt the need.
Officials have said the independent committee has worked for the last two months but "couldn't yet complete audit inspections for a lack of both technical and qualitative capacity, including equipment and know-how, about standard operation certificate of highly technical mass- transit system".
''There are many limitations to certify the MRT by any local firm as only an accredited authority can provide standard operation certification following international norms,'' says transport-expert Prof Mohammad Shamsul Hoque, who is also a member of the Independent Committee.
The DMTCL authorities formed the six-member committee end of December in line with a High Court writ and recommendation by the inquiry committee that worked to investigate the bearing-pad-crash accident that killed a pedestrian near Farmgate station.
Company Managing Director Mohammad Faruque Ahmed has confirmed about the decision but said the final step will be taken after getting approval from the next DMTCL board meeting.
He also said, "Though the Independent Committee has yet to submit any report, it however, in different submissions unofficially recommends the necessity of safety-audit certification by a certified firm."
The country's first MRT has been under operation from Uttara to Motijheel since its launch partially end of December 2022 without completing adequate non- passenger trial runs due to "political interest" of the Awami League government.
Since then, DMTCL has yet to operate the metro-rail to full capacity for lack of manpower and expertise to handle technical and mechanical issues. Though the MRT operation has often been disrupted for few minutes to hours owing to technical faults, but daylong operational disruption was recorded twice in a year in the MRT-6 operation in September 2024 and October 2025 following the fall of bearing pads from two piers. However, bearing-pad slip is claimed to be very rare accident in the world, found once in decades.
The probe committee formed after the October accident that killed one pedestrian identified various reasons, including design fault and lack of certifications, for the accidents.
smunima@yahoo.com
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