Metro rail final testing begins in November

The final stage of metro rail testing before starting passenger services will begin in November.

The testing, known as the blank test, will be conducted for 15-20 days. After that, the Uttara-Agargaon segment of the Mass Rapid Transit line-6 (MRT-6) will be fully ready for passenger services in December, official sources have said.

During the test, travel time from the starting to the end point will be calculated and finalised. This time frame will be maintained during regular operations.

Initially, 10 sets of trains will run at 10-minute intervals, which will gradually be reduced to three minutes and thirty seconds. Trains will run from the Fajr prayer time till midnight.

During the blank test, trains will be operated with all facilities, except for passengers on board.

Before that, the authorities will conduct a system integration test from September 1 for a maximum of three months to test and fine-tune all components, officials say.

All station controllers and train operators will be on board during the integration test. Local drivers will be accompanied by foreign trainers for guidance.

All functional tests on the route have already been completed while performance tests are at the final stage. The signal system test is going on as well.

Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) is now setting up simulators, and driving tests on those will start on October 1.

“These simulators are for operators, who will be trained here before operating real trains,” said MAN Siddique, managing director of DMTCL, the metro rail implementation and operating authority.

“The first train in December will be operated with government dignitaries and high officials on board. It will be opened to public the next day,” he added.

The 20.15km MRT-6 is being built from Uttara to Motijheel at a cost of Tk 22,000 crore. The work on the Agargaon-Motijheel segment is expected to be completed by 2023.

The MRT-6 line was recently extended to Kamalapur. The metro rail is designed to carry 60,000 people per hour from Uttara to Motijheel in less than an hour.

Ticketing system underway

The work on the MRT pass system has already been completed.

The authorities have also printed passenger cards already. Card sales will start once fares are fixed. The national ID information will be included in the cards.

Landing station problems

The MRT Line-6 has nine stations, and two of them – Shewrapara and Kazipara – still have passenger entry and exit problems as the adjacent footpaths are congested.

The authorities have decided to remove some private properties to acquire extra land for solving the problem.

They said the extra land acquisition is at the final stage. After a joint verification, they will determine compensation for the land owners and pay them within a month.

“We have built lift shafts for one of the two stations, and another two to three metres of space is required to extend the footpaths,” said MAN Siddique.

The current overall progress of the Uttara-Agargaon segment is 93.86 per cent, he added.