Bangladesh’s first electric track urban railway (MRT) began its operation on Wednesday, December 28, bringing a new mass transit system in Dhaka. To celebrate this historic event, a ceremony was held. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Obaidul Quader, Minister for Road Transport and Bridges, Mr. ABM Amin Ullah Nuri, Secretary of Road Transport and Highways Department, Mr. M. A. N. Siddique, Managing Director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited, H.E. Mr. IWAMA Kiminori, Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh and Mr. ICHIGUCHI Tomohide, Chief Representative of JICA, attended the ceremony. They were the first passengers to be on this MRT train on this historic day.
The MRT was built with Japanese ODA (yen loan); this time, 9 stations from Uttara North Station to Agargaon Station on Line 6 were inaugurated. The country’s first-ever electric railway will provide safe, rapid, comfortable, and punctual mass transit service in Dhaka with various Japanese state-of-the-art technologies. In the future, MRT Line 6 will be networked with Lines 1 and 5, which are scheduled to be completed in 2029. The MRT network is expected to alleviate chronic urban traffic congestion and reduce air pollution and other environmental impacts.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Japan and Bangladesh. The opening of the MRT, the new face of Dhaka with Japanese support, marks a historic moment as the final event of the anniversary year.