Cheers as metro train takes first test run

It was a regular day for Pallabi storekeeper Toriqul Islam until he heard the overhead wheezing in the morning. It took a few moments for the stunned man to realise the noise was coming from a train.

He rushed to the Pallabi metro station to join a crowd that had already been there to witness the test run of the much-anticipated metro rail service.

From the Diabari depot at Uttara, the train with six coaches was put on the main track for the first time around 6am Friday. The speed was kept very low since the train had been running on the line for the first time.

With intervals at the Uttara North, Uttara Centre and Uttara South stations, the train stopped at the fourth station Pallabi.

The trial met with huge crowds on both sides underneath the viaduct though there was no official announcement regarding the trial. People standing at windows in nearby buildings also cheered at the first run of the metro train.

"The official performance test of metro rail is slated for 29 August, while Friday's run was a trial for that," ABM Arifur Rahman, manager (CP-08) of MRT line-6, told The Business Standard.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader and top public officials will be present during the official performance test.

"The train left the Diabari depot at 6am. The run on a patch with four stations was successful," Arifur Rahman said, adding, "Since the trial covered all the details, it took a long time."

MAN Siddique, managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), earlier said the performance test of the much-anticipated project will take place at 10am on 29 August.

He said the set of coaches that arrived in Dhaka in April this year will be put to the official performance test.

The third phase of the metro rail project connecting a 20.10km stretch from Uttara to Motijheel was taken up in 2021 as the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) is funding the Tk22,000 crore mega-project.

The rail construction was later decided to expand to Kamalapur. With the extension, the length of the metro infrastructure will be 21.26km.

Until 31 July, the Uttara-Agargaon phase of the fast-track project logged 88.18% overall progress, while the Agargaon-Motijheel phase registered 66.74% progress. The total progress of the entire project was 68.49%.

Sources at the DMTCL said 24 trains will carry passengers on the Uttara-Motijheel route as four trains have arrived in the country from Japan so far. The fifth set is set to arrive in the second week of September.

A special day for Mirpur dwellers

Dhaka's Mirpur earned a name for notorious traffic as the metro rail project had narrowed the key roads of the area. The project appeared synonymous with traffic gridlock, noise and dust pollution to Mirpur residents.

A report of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) revealed 69% of businesses in Mirpur faced revenue fall as the metro rail work hampered regular activities.

But Mirpur has started to return to its previous look as the project is nearing end. The metro rail performance test on Friday was greeted by the locals.

Take Toriqul who had to shutter his business for a couple of months due to the project. After reopening, the regular business turned dull.

"We embraced the sufferings for the sake of development. After all, we are happy now as the metro rail is about to begin the commercial services," he added.

Pallabi resident Ekhlas Hossain has to commute to Motijheel regularly for his office. "I often had to set off at 6:30am to be in the office at 9am. Diversion, detour and road blockades stretched the one-hour trip to three hours," he recalled.

Ekhlas now feels hopeful as the train route is near his home.