MRT-1 unlikely to be ready before 2030
Five years have passed since the country's first underground metro rail project was approved, but construction of the key structure has not yet begun.
The Tk 52,561-crore project, Mass Rapid Transit Line-1 (MRT Line-1), was formally inaugurated in February 2023. The Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), which is implementing it, has so far been able to hire contractors for one of the 12 packages.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Realising that the December 2026 deadline is too ambitious, officials say they may need an extension of three or four years. A significant rise in the cost is inevitable.
Officials at a meeting last month, chaired by DMTCL Managing Director Mohammad Abdur Rouf, said the delays were mainly caused by the Covid-19 restrictions and the lengthy approval procedure of the project's primary financier Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).
The meeting decided to accelerate the tendering process.
The MRT Line-1 will connect Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport with Kamalapur Railway Station. It will also bring Purbachal township and parts of Narayanganj under the metro network.
Of the 31.24km line, a 19.87km section from airport to Kamalapur will be underground. The part from Notun Bazar to Purbachal, an 11.36km stretch, will be elevated. There will be a total of 19 stations.
Once done, trains will be able to carry eight lakh passengers a day.
As the largest transport-sector initiative in Bangladesh's history, the project aims to significantly reduce Dhaka's notorious traffic congestion and pollution.
The MRT Line-1 is part of a broader plan, conceived by the previous government, to establish a 140-km metro rail network across Dhaka and adjacent areas by 2030.
RUNNING BEHIND SCHEDULE
After the MRT Line-1 project was approved in October 2019, it took three years to hire the first contractor mainly due to delays in drawing the detailed designs during the coronavirus pandemic.
In October 2022, the authority signed a contract with a Japan-Bangladesh joint-venture firm to develop the land for a depot in Pitalganj of Rupganj, Narayanganj.
Sheikh Hasina, then prime minister, inaugurated the physical work in February 2023. Japan's Tokyu Construction Co Ltd and Bangladesh's Max Infrastructure Ltd started depot development work under package-1 the following month. The work saw 87 percent progress as of December last year.
But the DMTCL could not hire any contractor for the main work which includes tunnel boring, construction of viaducts and stations, installation of tracks and power lines, and procurement of trains.
The authority so far called for tenders for nine of the packages.
Pre-contract negotiations with the contractors are going on for package-5, under which the underground line from Nadda Station to Natun Bazar Station, an interchange, and two stations will be built, shows the project document.
The eight other packages are now at different stages of the tendering process. Draft documents for two other packages now pending with Jica for approval.
Meanwhile, the metro authority has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bangladesh Army in June 2023 to relocate utility lines. The Army has started relocating service lines near five stations.
Besides, the authority so far acquired 93 out of 115 acres of land, documents show.
The project implementation committee held its 8th meeting on December 23 last year with Rouf, managing director of DMTCL, in the chair.
According to the meeting minutes, the project authority could spend only Tk 523.97 crore (14.57 percent) of Tk 3,594.37 crore allocated under the Annual Development Programme (ADP).
The project saw only 6 percent overall progress and 5.55 percent financial progress.
At the meeting, Project Director Abul Kashem Bhuiyan said it is mandatory to take concurrence from Jica for all phases of the bidding process and Jica gives approval considering priority of the packages, reads the meeting minutes.
Besides, Covid-19 hit the country just six months after the approval of the project which delayed the drawing of detailed design, land acquisition and other works, he said.
Apart from accelerating the tendering process, the meeting decided to hold an inter-ministerial meeting to expedite land acquisition process, reads the minutes.
NOT BEFORE 2030?
Officials say meeting the December 2026 deadline is no way possible.
It took more than six years to launch partial operation of MRT Line-6 from the day physical works began.
Citing a bidding document, a DMTCL official said contractors, after signing of contracts, will get five years to complete underground lines and three and a half years for elevated lines.
Considering this, if one underground package is signed this month, the contractor will get up to January 2030 to complete the works.
An official, wishing anonymity, said the contract for package-5 may be signed in March and contracts for other packages may be signed at three-four month intervals.
"In this given situation, it may not be possible to complete the project before 2030," he said.
WHAT THE AUTHORITY SAYS
The Project Director's Office, on January 6, sent a press release claiming that the works for metro rail is gaining momentum.
It mentioned the land development works for the depot saw 87 percent progress and tender for four underground packages have already been floated.
Contacted, Project Director Abul Kashem said he and his colleagues were working hard to expedite the procurement process and hoped to sign contracts for package-2 and 5 within June this year.
The structure at the depot will be built under package-2, he said.
Asked when they would be able to complete hiring all contractors, he said it depended on many issues including the concurrence of Jica and thus it was difficult to give an exact timeline.
Replying to a question, he said when the project was approved the exchange rate of the US dollar was around Tk 85 but currently it is more than Tk 120.
The project cost is likely to rise, he told The Daily Star on January 7.
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