Bangladesh's first-ever metro to open in capital

Bangladesh's first-ever metro will begin commercial operations on Dec. 28, easing gridlock in capital city Dhaka, an official said Thursday.

"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will formally inaugurate the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT Line)-6 of the metro rail from the capital's Uttara to Agargaon area at a function on Dec. 28," Bangladeshi Road Transport and Highways Division Secretary ABM Amin Ullah Nuri told journalists Thursday.

He said that all sorts of construction works were completed and the MRT Line-6 was ready for commercial operation.

Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTC), a Bangladeshi state-owned enterprise is behind the 20.1-km metro, with work being carried out by Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Bangladeshi companies.

A Joint Venture (JV) between China's Sinohydro Corporation Limited, a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned PowerChina, and Italian-Thai Development (ITD) Public Company Limited, a Thai company, had been building the main depot for the MRT Line-6 in Dhaka since 2017 at a cost of about 180 million U.S. dollars.

Bangladesh borrowed funds from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to finance the metro rail project in stages.

The metro will eventually cover large parts of the city. The first train made a trial run in August on a section of the line with 16 elevated stations.