Metro likely to start Friday morning operations in May, increase coaches

The metro rail in Dhaka is likely to start operating from morning to night on Fridays, similar to other weekdays, from May onwards, said Abdur Rouf, the acting managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL). 

"We have already extended Friday operations by 30 minutes, starting at 3pm instead of 3:30pm, and are also considering starting operations in the morning," he said, during a meeting with members of Reporters for Rail and Road (RRR) at the Metrorail Depot in Uttara today (4 February). 

He further said, "We are working on increasing train frequency by May. We also want to increase the number of coaches per train from six to eight to accommodate more passengers. Authorities are also considering reducing headway – the interval between trains, to increase frequency." 

Currently, the metro rail maintains a headway of 8-10 minutes on working days and 10-12 minutes on holidays. If the new decision takes effect in May, the headway will be reduced, which will increase the number of daily trips, currently at 200 on working days. 

DMTCL also plans to increase trips on high-demand days. "We have already tested this by adding six additional trips during Bishwa Ijtema. This trial helped us assess our capacity and system efficiency. We successfully managed the extra load, proving that we can expand operations," Rouf explained.

"We need 2,400-2,500 employees for extended operations. Currently, we have only 1,379 employees, with 628 of them outsourced. We are recruiting and training additional personnel to support this expansion, with the goal of introducing the new schedule by May, and we are working diligently to make it happen," he continued. 

At present, the metro rail serves 350,000 passengers daily, with the authority targeting to carry 550,000 passengers per day.

Rouf mentioned that reaching this target might require waiting for the completion of the Motijheel-Kamalapur extension under MRT Line-6, expected by December 2025. However, he expressed doubts about meeting the deadline.

"Completing the project by December 2025 will be difficult due to the rising dollar price. The existing contractor for electrical and mechanical works proposed a high-cost estimate, which we rejected. They later submitted a revised proposal with a reduced cost, but it still seems high. Negotiations are ongoing. Once we finalise the contract, we will need 8-9 months to complete the remaining work," he said.

Regarding commercial space in metro stations, Rouf said, "We have already started working on renting out commercial spaces to generate revenue. A committee has been formed, and they are actively working on this. Soon, all commercial spaces will be leased out."

He also provided an update on the repair of metro stations damaged by arson attacks during the July uprising. 

"We repaired the affected stations using existing equipment from less-used stations, spending only Tk1.98 crore. Now, we are purchasing new equipment to replace them, which will cost Tk18 crore. Additionally, this purchase will include 10% extra accessories."

Finally, Rouf revealed that the metro rail generated approximately Tk244 crore in ticket sales during the 2023-24 financial year.