AMN/ WEB DESK
The performance test run of the first metro rail in Bangladesh was conducted in Dhaka on Sunday. The metro rail test run with 6 coaches was conducted over a distance of 6 kilometers from Uttara north to Pallabi.
Inaugurating the test run, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said that the passenger services for the metro train will be opened in December next year after completing multiple stages of test and trial runs. The second phase of the performance test will begin in a few months from now.
The performance test run will be followed by an integrity test and finally the trial run before launching the full service of the metro rail in Dhaka.
Line 6 of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system of Bangladesh is approximately 20 kilometres long. It has 16 stations on this stretch of the metro with a carrying capacity of about 60,000 passengers per hour. The expected travel time on this line will be 40 minutes.
The first set of metro trains arrived in Dhaka from Japan in April this year. The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line 6 is being built in Dhaka at a cost of approximately Tk 22,000 crore.