Gabtoli-Dasherkandi project gets financial confirmation

The construction work of the southern route of Mass Rapid Transit Line-5 stretching from Gabtoli to Dasherkandi will be financed jointly by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and South Korea.

The ADB will provide $3 billion and South Korea $1.5 billion, while the Bangladesh government will provide the rest of the expenses of this $5.1 billion project, according to the detailed project proposal submitted by the Road Transport and Bridges Division to the Planning Ministry.

This project will be implemented in the third phase by the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL). It is expected to be completed by 2030.

Project Director Md Abdul Wohab told The Business Post that they sent the DPP to the Planning Commission in October last year. He also said, “We hope the first project evaluation committee meeting will be held shortly, maybe within this month. It will be called by the Planning Commission,” he said.

The project authorities are working on other contractual processes now which are not related to the funding, he said, adding that Covid-19 pandemic had slowed down the progress, but they are now on track.

This Line-5 Southern route stretches 17.20km, including over 13km underground and 4.10km elevated.

The first completed metro rail route, known as MRT Line-6 has been in full operation, carrying hundreds of thousands of passengers between Uttara and Motijheel. This initiative has reduced traffic jams and commuters’ suffering on this route significantly. The government has been saying that implementing a total of six planned routes will drastically reduce traffic chaos in the overpopulated city of Dhaka.

Meanwhile, in November last year, the MRT Line-5 Northern Route construction work was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. That route is 20 kilometres long from Vatara to Gabtoli, passing through key areas such as Gulshan and Mirpur-10. The project, with a budget of Tk 412.39 billion, is expected to be completed by 2028. The construction work on MRT Line-1 is also going on.

Regarding the southern route of the MRT-5, Finance Ministry officials said that after evaluation by a committee, it will be placed at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council chaired by the Prime Minister for final approval.

According to project details, the southern route of the MRT-5 will play a role in decongesting and improving the environment of Dhaka metropolis and adjacent areas. In 2030, 9.24 lakh passengers will be able to travel every day. Each one-way metro rail will travel from Gabtali to Dasherkandi in 28.02 minutes, stopping at 15 stations every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. The maximum passenger capacity of the train is 2312 people. It will be possible to transport a large number of passengers in a short time.

The trains will go through Gabtali - Technical - Kalyanpur - Shyamoli - College Gate - Asad Gate - Russell Square - Karwan Bazar- Hatirjheel - Tejgaon - Aftabnagar - Aftabnagar Central, Aftabnagar East – Nasirabad and Dasherkandi.

Of the 15 stations, four will be elevated and 11 will be underground. The elevated stations will be at Aftabnagar Central, Aftabnagar East, Nasirabad and Dasherkandi.

Primarily, service with 19 sets of metro rail with six coaches each will be started. But there will be scope to increase the metro set further in the future. Each metro rail will have a maximum carrying capacity of 2312 passengers, with a maximum of 391 passengers in each of the 4 middle coaches and a maximum of 374 passengers in each of the driving trailer coaches. Initially, in 2030, one-way trains will carry 20,107 passengers per hour, which will increase to 38,255 in 2060. Each train will have a female, dedicated coach.

In 2030, trains will be operated in a gap of 4 minutes and 30 seconds, which will be cut to three minutes and ten seconds in 2060.

These trains will run at a maximum speed of 100 kmph on the elevated parts and 90 kmph on the underground parts.

At Gabtoli station, MRT Line-5: Southern Route will interchange with MRT Line-5: Northern Route, MRT Line-2 and MRT Line-6 at Karwan Bazar station. The MRT Line-5: Southern Route will have an interchange with the MRT Line-1 at Aftabnagar station.