Shafiqul Islam
Finally, the much-anticipated Metrorail trial has begun. On Tuesday, the first Metrorail in the history of the country was on trial run in Dhaka’s Uttara. Through this, Bangladesh entered the era of electric train. An inaugural function was organized at the depot on the occasion. Minister for Road Transport and Bridges, Obaidul Quader virtually graced the event as the chief guest.

The train with a set of 6 coaches traveled about 500 meters from the workshop. This train is fully electric. The coaches were built by the Kawasaki Company of Japan. One of the drivers of the company drove the train. When the train stopped at a depot, Road Transport Secretary Nazrul Islam, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) Managing Director (MD) M A N Siddique, Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki, JICA Chief Representative Yuho Hayakawa and other officials were present.

Earlier in the inauguration ceremony, Obaidul Quader said, Metrorail is no longer a dream, now it is now a reality. Another set of coaches arrived at Mongla port. The bridge minister said the first train would be taken out of the depot in August. There will be performance tests first, then integrated test moves, then full test moves.

Asked how the train was running on electricity, Obaidul Quader said, there is an electric wire on the railway line on which the train is running. The train is connected to it. The train was left for half an hour outside and taken to the workshop again. When the train left the workshop, everyone greeted with claps.

Meanwhile, Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said the average progress of the construction of the first metro rail in Bangladesh is 63.26%. The progress of the construction work of the Agargaon section from the third phase of Uttara scheduled for the construction of the first phase is 84.79 percent.