MRT Line 6
The MRT Line 6 is a rapid transit line of the Dhaka Metro Rail. Despite its number, it is Bangladesh's first rapid transit line and has been in service since 2022. The line is entirely elevated and currently has 16 stations operational in service between Uttara North and Motijheel.
The line was built as a proposal of a mass rapid transit system in Dhaka by the Review Committee of the Strategic Transport Plan and the Urban Traffic Formulation Study.
Its construction started in 2016 but was delayed several times as a result of disagreements about the route, the July 2016 Dhaka attack, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The first phase of the line was gradually opened in 2022 from Uttara North to Agargaon. In 2023, the second phase of the line was inaugurated from Agargaon to Motijheel.
An extension to Kamalapur is expected to inaugurate on 1st of January 2027. There is a plan to further extend the line north towards Tongi. It is the most expensive mass rapid transit line in terms of per kilometer construction cost in Asia.
History
Origins and development
In 2005, the World Bank published a study report, recommending that the government of Bangladesh build a mass transit system in Dhaka. In the same year, American consultancy firm Louis Berger Group prepared a strategic transport plan for Dhaka. Although the World Bank helped to develop this plan, the draft plan didn't include a mass rapid transit system. It was Bangladeshi civil engineer and national professor Jamilur Reza Choudhury, chairman of the Review Committee of the STP, and his team who suggested a mass rapid transit system be included in the plan. The published STP recommended the construction of three mass rapid transit lines, of which the alignment of MRT Line 6 was proposed from Pallabi via Begum Rokeya Avenue to Sayedabad Bus Terminal via Tejgaon and Sonargaon hotel areas. Three years after the preparation of the study report by the World Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency joined the metro rail project. In the Urban Traffic Formulation Study, JICA considered MRT Line 6 the most profitable and important of the proposed lines. A feasibility study was conducted for the construction of this line in the financial year 2010–2011. At the time, the agency's urban transport expert team proposed to construct it as a monorail instead of fully underground.A draft route was mapped in 2011. According to this map, the line was supposed to be from Uttara to Sayedabad. The proposed station at Bijoy Sarani was to be built in front of the Bangabandhu Military Museum, but due to the objection of the Bangladesh Air Force in 2011, it was planned to be built near the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. Also, the height of the dome of the station had to be reduced to keep it out of reach of the airport funnel for the nearby Tejgaon Airport. As per the proposed route map, the line was supposed to pass in front of Begum Rokeya Hall, one of residential buildings of the University of Dhaka. However, due to the objection of the authorities, the government took the initiative to revise the alignment. The draft route included the Mayor Mohammed Hanif Flyover. However, at the request of the Dhaka Traffic Coordination Board, its route was diverted from the flyover. So it was planned to change the route and take it to Sayedabad via Motijheel. The draft route was supposed to pass the line through Mirpur Cantonment. However the Bangladesh Army objected as it wanted to make the area a residential area, so the line was moved eastward. Even though the line was planned to pass by Tejgaon Airport, later Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered to change the decision considering national security.
Jamilur Reza Choudhury requested the prime minister to change the destination of the line from Sayedabad to Motijheel. He also suggested taking the route through Banglamotor. Later, the route map was modified slightly to finalize the current route map. JICA wanted to build three metro stations at Uttara above ground, and the remaining stations underground, but E. Sreedharan, an Indian mass transit expert, recommended building an entirely elevated line, as he believed an underground metro line would be to expensive to build and operate. This resulted in the current route, which is entirely on an elevated track. The MRT Line 6 project was officially launched on 1 July 2012. On 18 December 2012, the project was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council and in the next year, JICA hired a consultant and financed the construction of MRT Line 6 and its operator Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited was established. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was also the line's consultant. In 2014, the project officials completed the design of metro station of the line. Its conceptual design was created two years after its approval by ECNEC. The finalised version of STP, revised in 2016, proposed the construction of five mass rapid transit lines in Dhaka including this line.
Before the line's construction, there were three obstacles in the northern Uttara-Mirpur section. The first obstacle was the narrowness of the local pathway from Uttara to Mirpur, which made it impossible to carry out construction work there. The second obstacle was a lake between Uttara and Mirpur. The third was the Sri Sri Gaur Nitai temple located in the route which needed to be moved. Road Transport and Highways Division planned to convert the pathway into a street to remove the first obstacle. In the case of the second, it was decided to fill the marked area of the lake and remove the soil after the piling work was completed there. After the government held talks with the temple authority, they announced the transfer of the temple, thereby solving all the issues. After determining the route of the line by the side of Shaheed Minar, it was planned to change the route in the face of objection and take it in front of Teacher-Student Centre, University of Dhaka. In protest of this, the students of Dhaka University conducted various activities from 7 January 2016. They cited the possibility of damage to structures in the university premises, increased traffic jams and disruption to campus activities as reasons for their opposition. On 16 January 2016, the Bangladesh Students Union supported the protesting students at Dhaka University and proposed to take the route through Shahbag in front of Matsya Bhaban instead of taking it inside Dhaka University as it would be illegal to take the route of MRT Line 6 through Dhaka University area. On the other hand, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader ruled out the possibility of moving the metro route from Dhaka University as the construction work would start in two months. He informed that there will be no problem in the activities of the university as sound insulation technology will be used on the metro rail line. Meetings were held with students to resolve the dispute. After discussing the benefits of a metro station in the Dhaka University area, they withdrew their opposition. The authority of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University objected to the decision of the DTCA to take the proposed route through BSMMU. They were later convinced by DTCA that a station near BSMMU could benefit the patients. On 27 March 2016, DMTCL signed an agreement with Tokyu Construction Ltd for the development of the line's depot.
Initial phases
Construction
JICA divided the entire construction project into 6 packages. The first two packages included construction of the line's depot. The construction project was inaugurated on 26 June 2016. The July 2016 Dhaka attack took place during the call for tenders for the construction of the line, and led to some companies withdrawing from the tender process due to security concerns. Seven Japanese officials associated with the project died in the attack. About 4 days after the attack, Gowher Rizvi, foreign affairs adviser of the country, said that the attack would not have any negative impact on construction. He wanted to wait a maximum of three months for foreign officials who left after the attack. Six months later, with the assurance of the government, the contractors started the construction work. A detailed design of the line was prepared in August 2016. In September 2016, works related to the construction of the line's depot at Diabari were started. On 2 August 2017, the first phase of construction of the MRT Line 6 was officially started.DMTCL hired seven contracting firms to work in joint ventures to execute the construction works. One of those seven contracting firms was Abdul Monem Limited, which was the sole Bangladeshi contractor for the construction project. Also the contractor for a significant part of the construction work was Italian-Thai Development. As of October 2017, the construction was 20.19% complete with 1% progress. After two months, it was known that 13.16% of the initial budget was spent on the construction of the project. By 2018, utility transfer was completed for the project from Uttara to Agargaon in the route area. In April 2018, the installation of spans between the pillars of the line began. On 11 July 2018, the joint venture of Marubeni and Larsen & Toubro started electrical and mechanical work on the project. Work of the second phase started from August of the same year. In February 2019, work began on the viaduct and stations on the Agargaon to Kawran Bazar section of the under-construction line. Till then the overall average progress of the project was 21.50% and the progress of the first phase was 35%. As of 15 December 2019, of viaducts of a total length of of the line had been laid. According to the schedule, its rail track was supposed to be laid in the first month of 2020.
In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic escalated, foreigners involved in the project stopped working and left the country. The lockdown imposed by the government during the pandemic halted construction for several months. However, when the government allowed work in accordance with the rules to prevent infection, construction work was resumed. As of October 2020, the construction of Phase 2 was lagging behind Phase 1. A news article published by Prothom Alo attributed this to a later start of construction than the first phase and COVID-19. In 2021, JICA urged the government to take necessary measures to prevent the spread of infection among the officials and employees involved in the project. The government set up two makeshift hospitals, isolation centers and makeshift dormitories to prevent transmission. During the pandemic, 668 people involved in construction contracted COVID-19.
Erecting of all spans of Phase 1 was completed on 28 February 2021. As of February 2021, the construction progress of the Kawran Bazar to Motijheel section of the second phase was 56%. Installation of all viaducts on the line was completed on 27 January 2022. The construction of its depot was completed in June 2022. Two months after that, the construction progress of MRT Line 6 was 67%. M.A.N. Siddique, managing director of DMTCL, was sure that the project would be successful despite the reserve crisis in 2022. As of November 2022, the construction progress was 84.22%, while the progress of the first phase from Uttara to Agargaon was at 95%. As of 8 February 2023, after 41 days of the opening of the first phase, at least 92% of the second phase of the line was complete. ABM Amin Ullah Nuri, the secretary of the Road Transport and Highways Division, said on 9 August 2023 that the second phase would be completed by 15 October. However, the construction of all the stations was planned to be completed by December. But later it was announced that the construction of all the stations would be completed one month late. On 27 November 2023, it was decided to connect, and Bangladesh Secretariat metro stations with the pedestrian bridge, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and Bangladesh Secretariat respectively by constructing skywalks. As of October 2024 DMTCL's new Managing Director Mohammad Abdur Rouf was considering a meeting with Cabinet Secretary Sheikh Abdur Rashid to implement the skywalk between the Secretariat and the metro station.