Launching metro rail in Dhaka a historic moment: Japan

The Japanese Embassy in Dhaka has said the opening of the metro rail, the new face of Dhaka with Japanese support, marks a historic moment as the final event of the anniversary year of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Japan.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The MRT was built with Japanese ODA (yen loan), and this time 9 stations from Uttara north station to Agargaon station on Line 6 were inaugurated.

The country’s first-ever electric railway will provide safe, rapid, comfortable and punctual mass transit service in Dhaka with various Japanese state-of-the-art technologies.

In the future, the MRT Line 6 will be networked with lines 1 and 5, which are scheduled to be completed in 2029.

The MRT network is expected to alleviate chronic urban traffic congestion and reduce air pollution and other environmental impacts, said the Embassy on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Bangladesh’s first electric track urban railway (MRT) began its operation, bringing a new mass transit system in Dhaka.

Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh Iwama Kiminori and Chief Representative of JICA Ichiguchi Tomohide attended the ceremony where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the metro rail.

Obaidul Quader, Minister for Road Transport and Bridges, ABM Amin Ullah Nuri, Secretary of Road Transport and Highways Department, MAN Siddique, Managing Director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited, also attended the ceremony.

They were the first passengers to be on this MRT train on this historic day.