Nippon Koei Co Limited, a consortium of eight companies, has signed an agreement to become the lead consultant for the country's first underground metro rail project Mass Rapid Transit Line-1 or MRT-1.
The companies are- Nippon Koei Co Limited (Japan) JV, Oriental Consultants Global Co Limited (Japan), SYSTRA SA (France), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (India), Nippon Koei India Private Limited, Katahira & Engineers International (Japan), Development Design Consultants Limited (Bangladesh) and Nippon Koei Bangladesh Limited.
Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) Managing Director MAN Siddique signed the agreement worth Tk1517.24 crore on Sunday at an event arranged in the capital's Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC).
The leading consultant group will now supervise the implementation of the project which will be completed in a total of 12 packages.
The MRT-1 project will cost around Tk 52,000 crore and is expected to be completed in 2026.
The construction of the 31.24km underground metro rail, from Shahjalal International Airport to Kamalapur via Natun Bazar, is expected to begin soon.
The MRT Line-1 will have two parts – around 19.87km from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Kamalapur with 16.4km underground lines and around 11.37km elevated lines from Natun Bazar to Purbachal.
The line will have 21 stations – 12 underground and nine elevated. Besides, 25 trains will operate daily on the line. It will take only 24 minutes and 30 seconds to go from Dhaka airport to Kamalapur, 20 minutes and 35 seconds from Natun Bazar to Purbachal, and 40 minutes from Kamalapur to Purbachal.
A passenger will be able to catch a train every 2 and a half minutes on the Dhaka airport-Kamalapur route, while the wait time between trains on the Natun Bazar-Purbachal route will be 4 minutes and 35 seconds.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said the implementation of this project will cut the travel time from Airport to Kamlapur to only 24 minutes.
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