Uttara-Motijheel metro trail service starts

The much-anticipated metro rail service from Uttara to Motijheel opened for commuters on Sunday as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Agargaon-Motijheel section of this route on Saturday.

"Passengers will be able to ride the metro rail from Uttara to Motijheel section of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line 6 from November 5," MAN Siddique, Managing Director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), said earlier.

Initially, the metro rail will operate on the Uttara-Motijheel section from 7:30 am to 11:30 am, for four hours a day, he said, adding, however, it will operate up to 8:30 pm in the Uttara-Agargaon section.

Metro train will have stoppages at Farmgate, Bangladesh Secretariat and Motijheel on the Agargaon-Motijheel route. A train will be available after every 10 minutes.

The fare chart which was made during the inauguration of the Uttara-Agargaon section of the MRT Line 6 will also be followed in the case of the Uttara-Motijheel section.

According to the fare chart, the minimum fare was fixed at Tk 20 and the maximum fare for travelling from Uttara to Motijheel was fixed at Tk 100. After the minimum fare of Tk 20 for the first two stations, Tk 10 will be added to travel to every next station.

The government adopted the Metrorail project in July 2012. The length of the Agargaon to Motijheel section is 8.72km. Considering convenience, the route has been extended by 1.16 km from Motijheel to Kamalapur, which is expected to be completed by June 2024.

/KN/