The metro rail authorities are going to start the construction work for two more lines next year.

The work for the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-1, the country's first-ever underground rail line, will begin next month, while civil work of MRT Line-5 (northern route), the first east-west metro rail corridor, is slated for July.

The two projects would cost around Tk 94,000 crore.

ABM Amin Ullah Nuri, secretary of Road Transport and Highways Division, and MAN Siddique, managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL), the implementing agency of the project, revealed this yesterday, the day country's first metro rail was launched.

They were speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the MRT Line-6 at Uttara in the presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Hasina yesterday inaugurated the 12km section (from Uttara to Agargaon) of the 21.26km line. People will be availing the service from today.

The 31.24km MRT Line-1, the biggest infrastructure project in the transport sector, involves Tk 52,561.43 crore.

The deadline for the project is December 2026 and its construction work was supposed to start in December 2020.

The line has two parts.

The 19.87km part from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Kamalapur (airport route) will be underground. The other part (Purbachal route), a 11.36km stretch from Notunbazar to Purbachal, will be elevated.

The airport route will have 12 stations, and the Purbachal route will have nine stations, seven of which will be above the ground.

Nadda and Notunbazar stations on the Purbachal route would be underground and act as interchange for passengers.

The work of the MRT Line-1 will start with land development for a depot at Pitalganj in Narayanganj. A Japan-Bangladesh joint venture company has been hired for developing the depot.

As per a contract signed on November 23, the company (Tokyu Construction Co Ltd of Japan and Max Infrastructure Ltd of Bangladesh) will develop the depot at a cost of Tk 607.65 crore within 910 days.

In October, the metro rail authorities also hired a joint venture firm led by Japan's Nippon Koei Company Ltd as consultant for the construction supervision.

The eight-company joint venture, including two Bangladeshi companies, will get Tk 1,517.24 crore over seven years for their services, said project officials.

MRT LINE-5

The MRT Line-5 (northern route) project, from Savar's Hemayetpur to Bhatara via Gabtoli, Mirpur, and Gulshan, would be implemented at an estimated cost of Tk 41,239 crore with a deadline of 2028.

The 20km line with 14 stations will have underground and elevated sections.

The metro authorities in June 2020 hired a consortium, led by Nippon Koei, for preparing detailed designs, tender documents and supervising construction work.

At least 67.57 percent work for detailed design has been done, as of November this year, show DMTCL documents.

A DMTCL official said they have already floated tender for several packages, including depot development. The detailed designs for these packages have been completed.

The official said like other metro rail lines, they will start the construction work with the land development for depot at Hemayetpur.