Metro Rail’s second set of coaches arrives in Dhaka

GBNEWS24 DESK//

A barge first arrived at the jetty of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) on the bank of river Turag at Diabari in Uttara at about 7:15pm with two coaches on board.

Later, another barge with four coaches on board reached at about 8:00pm and it was anchored near the jetty. If the weather remains favourable, the coaches will be unloaded from the barges atthe jetty and taken to the Metro Rail Depot at Uttara, said offcials concerned.

A ship carrying the second set of six coaches of Metro Rail started journey for Mongla Port in Khulna from Kobe Port in Japan on April 21 last. It arrived at Mongla Port on May 9. After completion of the processes of paying duty and VAT at Mongla Port, two barges carrying the coaches on board left for Dhaka on the riverine route on May 24.

A total of 24 sets of coaches will be bought for the under-construction Uttara-Motijheel Metro Rail. The coaches are being built by the Japanese company Kawasaki-Mitsubishi. Each set will have four coaches and two locomotives on each side, a project official said.

The Metro Rail authorities said that the rest 22 sets of coaches will arrive in Bangladesh in phases. The third set of coaches is scheduled to arrive on August 13 sailing from Kobe on June 13.

The DMTCL said the construction work of Bangladesh’s first Metro Rail has been going on round-the-clock following health guidelines and maintaining social distance amid strict lockdown.