Metro Rail is currently the most popular public transport system in the capital for comfortable commuting. The country’s first metro rail is the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) Line-6. This modern transport system carries more than 400,000 passengers daily, and on national holidays the number exceeds 450,000. Once the remaining construction up to Kamalapur Station is completed, MRT-6 will be able to transport 677,000 passengers per day.
Despite its popularity, the construction cost of Metro Rail-6 has been widely criticized. It is often said that this is the most expensive metro project in Asia. Its cost is two-thirds higher than India’s Delhi Metro and double that of Pakistan’s first metro rail in Lahore. The construction cost is also five times higher than that of the first metro rail in Shanghai, China. Amid such criticisms, the overall construction cost is now set to decrease midway through the project. Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), the implementing agency, has proposed reducing Tk 7.55 billion from the project cost. A revised proposal has been sent to the Planning Commission for presentation at the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting scheduled for tomorrow, Monday.
A recent meeting of the Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) was held in this regard. According to the meeting’s decision, the revised development project proposal (RDPP) has been reorganized. Based on this, the Planning Commission recommended approval of the cost reduction. The commission noted that the proposal to reduce the cost by approximately Tk 7.55 billion is reasonable and consistent with guidelines for formulating, processing, approving, and revising development projects in the public sector.
According to the revised proposal, an additional 3.56 hectares of land is no longer required for the entry and exit structures of the stations at Bijoy Sarani, Farmgate, Shahbagh, Dhaka University, and Motijheel. This will save Tk 11.21 billion. Four planned station plazas have been removed from the project, saving another Tk 1.65 billion. These plazas were originally planned for Uttara North, Uttara Center, Agargaon, and Motijheel stations. Additionally, Tk 1.16 billion is being saved from the main line, civil, and station construction; Tk 904.5 million from the electrical and mechanical (E&M) railway management system; and nearly Tk 30 million from rehabilitation consultancy services.
Brigadier General (Retd.) Abdul Wahab is serving as the Project Director of Metro Rail-6 (South). Since last September, he has also been carrying the additional responsibility as Project Director of the MRT-6 project.
He stated that after review, the excluded station plazas were found to be unnecessary. They were initially planned as alternative income sources for the metro rail, including bank booths, shopping facilities, and other services. Later, these were deemed unprofitable. Their removal is now saving substantial land acquisition costs. He expressed optimism about completing the remaining work within the extended timeframe.
However, despite the savings in these areas, there are additional expenses—amounting to Tk 17.41 billion—for interest payments on JICA’s loan, salaries and allowances for officials and consultants due to the extended timeline, and rolling stock and equipment costs for the Motijheel-to-Kamalapur extension.
Alongside the cost reduction, DMTCL has proposed extending the project duration by another three years, until December 2028. The project was originally scheduled to be completed by December 31 of this year.
The extension is required mainly to complete the 1.16 km expansion from Motijheel to Kamalapur. MRT Line-6 is the country’s first metro rail project. The 20.1 km section from Uttara to Motijheel is already operational. It was inaugurated in December 2022, initially running only from Uttara to Agargaon. Later, by the end of 2023, all stations up to Motijheel were opened to passengers. If approved, this will be the third revision of the project, bringing the total project cost to Tk 327.18 billion.
