Even though the inter-district bus service resumed yesterday, it may take a few more days for passenger transport services to become completely normal in the capital and other parts of the country.

Metro rail will be suspended and Dhaka Elevated Expressway will remain closed for a few more days, officials said.

Bangladesh Railway last night changed its plan of resuming limited scale train services from today.

The BR from its control room sent messages to the officials concerned after 11:00pm that operations of all trains, including freight trains, will remain suspended, two BR officials confirmed The Daily Star.

The message did not give any reason for the move.

Earlier in the day, Railways Secretary told The Daily Star that they would operate two commuter trains on Dhaka-Narayanganj and Dhaka-Joydevpur routes from today when the curfew is in pause.

He said operations of freight trains resumed yesterday and trains carrying oil ran unhindered.

Launch services resumed partially yesterday with only three launches leaving the capital's Sadarghat Launch Terminal for Chandpur and Bhola.

Bus, launch, and train services were suspended on Thursday amid widespread violence at different parts of the country centring the quota reform demonstrations.

Criminals vandalised Mirpur-10 and Kazipara metro rail stations and set fire to two toll plazas of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway in Banani and Mohakhali on July 18 and 19.

Metro rail remained suspended and Dhaka Elevated Expressway remained closed since Thursday.

The elevated expressway will remain closed until the curfew is lifted fully, said Captain (retd) Hasib Hasan Khan, manager (operations and maintenance) of First Dhaka Elevated Expressway Company Ltd (FDEE), the operating company of the expressway.

"The expressway is operated by a consortium of foreign countries. So, the authority has decided to keep the expressway closed until the curfew is lifted fully," he told The Daily Star yesterday.

He said the two ramps of the expressway where the toll plazas were torched would be kept closed even after lifting of the curfew.

The company is considering opening the Banani ramp where tolls will be collected manually, Hasib said.

He said the company incurred a loss of around Tk 50 crore because of the torching of the two toll plazas.

The Airport-Farmgate section of the first elevated expressway was opened to traffic in September last year. Another ramp of the expressway at the FDC gate was opened early this year, bringing much relief to the commuters.

Over 50,000 vehicles used the expressway daily and the authority used to collect Tk 40 to 45 lakh in tolls daily, Hasib said.

DMTCL FORMS COMMITTEE

MAN Siddique, managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd, yesterday said they formed a committee to evaluate when the metro rail operation could be resumed. The committee is supposed to submit its report within 10 days.

"The committee started works today [Wednesday]. We will act on the basis of its report," he told The Daily Star.

Siddique had told this correspondent earlier that it would take at least one year to make the two metro stations operational.

BUS SERVICES

Bus services to and from Dhaka resumed yesterday morning with a low number of passengers.

Md Kawsar, a staffer of Dola Paribahan at Sayedabad Bus Terminal, said at least eight to nine buses had left the capital for Chattogram, Sylhet, Barishal, and Khulna till around 12:30pm.

Mosharref Hossain, general manager of Hanif Paribahan, said they resumed their services on all routes from 9:00am.

Khandaker Enayet Ullah, general secretary of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, said buses will operate only when the curfew is in pause.

Railways Secretary Humayun Kabir told The Daily Star yesterday that the BR incurred a loss of around Tk 8 crore as criminals torched four carriages of a train and vandalised many coaches and other establishments of the railway.

The BR operates over 360 passenger trains daily.

Alamgir Kabir, joint director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, said only three launches left Dhaka between 10:00am and 5:00pm yesterday.

No launch left Dhaka for Barishal and other popular destinations as vessels on those routes usually leave Dhaka at night, he said.

"But we did not allow any launches to depart Dhaka after 5:00pm as curfew came into force then," he said.