The construction of the country’s first-ever underground metro rail line is expected to start in the first week of September, almost a year and a half into the initial schedule.

Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) completed the project’s detailed design last month and construction would begin with land development work at the depot, said Md A Alim Khan, project manager of MRT Line 1.

He said DMTCL had already negotiated with the lowest bidder for land development and sent draft papers to Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for approval.

JICA is financing MRT Line-1, also known as the second metro rail project.

“We will sign the contract after getting JICA’s nod. We hope JICA’s approval will come by this week,” Alim told The Business Post, adding a Japanese company and a local one had qualified for the contract.

The depot will be built at Pitalganj and Brammonkhali in Narayanganj’s Rupganj on 92.97 acres of land while the authorities have almost finished land acquisition.

The project’s physical work was supposed to start in December 2020, which was rescheduled for June 2021.

Trains will run on MRT Line 1 from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Kamalapur in 24 minutes, including stops at 12 underground stations. 25 trains will run at the speed of 90 kilometres per hour and carry eight lakh passengers daily.

All paperwork for the prequalification of construction has already been finalised. The construction will be completed under 12 contract packages (CP).

Work progress
DMTCL has finalised the appointment of the consultant for the project’s supervision as it received a no-objection certificate from JICA.

On June 27, it sent the project evaluation committee’s report (financial) and draft agreement documents to JICA for approval. The consultant appointment progress is 95 per cent, according to the latest report.

Prequalification applications were opened for CP 5 and 6 on May 22 this year and that of CP 4 on June 1. Also in June, the authorities sent a short list of contractors to JICA for approval after evaluating the CPs.

The prequalification documents of six more packages are now awaiting JICA’s approval while DMTCL is processing the paperwork for the remaining three CPs.

According to the Revised Strategic Transport Plan, MRT Line-1 will be divided into Airport and Purbachal routes.

The Airport route will run from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Kamalapur via the airport’s third terminal, Khilkhet, Jamuna Future Park, Natun Bazar, Uttar Badda, Badda, Hatirjheel, Rampura, Malibagh, and Rajarbagh.

The project’s underground part will cover 16.5 kilometres. The Natun Bazar station will be inter-connected to MRT Line 5.

The Purbachal section of MRT Line 1 will run from Natun Bazar to Purbachal terminal via Bashundhara, Jamuna Future Park, Police Officers Housing Society, Mastul, Purbachal Paschim, Madhya Purbachal, and Purbachal sector 7.

This 10km section will have nine stations, including Natun Bazar and Jamuna Future Park underground stations belonging to the Airport route. The Bashundhara to Purbachal section will be elevated and have seven stations.

The project cost has been estimated at Tk 52,561.43 crore and is supposed to be completed by 2026. The Bangladesh government will provide Tk 13,111 crore of the cost while Tk 39,450 crore will come from JICA.