After the closure for one month and seven days, the public transport Metrorail has restarted its operation. Today, on Sunday (August 25) metro rail movement started from 7:10 am. The first train left Uttara North station at 7:10 am. The train departed from Motijheel towards Uttara at 7:20 am. Passengers boarded these two trains using MRT or Rapid Pass. But the two trains were not crowded with passengers.
The trains will run till 9:13 PM.
However, Kazipara and Mirpur-10 stations affected by the anti-discrimination student movement are closed. Metrorail authorities said that it will take another year to open these two damaged stations after renovation.
According to their information, only MRT or Rapid Pass can be used for metro trains leaving Motijheel station after 9:13 PM. Single journey tickets can be purchased from metro stations from 7:20 am to 8:50 pm. MRT pass purchase and MRT or rapid pass can be up-to-up at the same time. All ticket offices and ticket vending machines in metro rail stations will be closed after 8:50 PM. Metrorail’s weekly closure is Friday.
When the police box was set ablaze on July 18 during the quota reform movement, the authorities stopped the metro rail service at five in the afternoon that day. The next day, Mirpur-10 and Kazipara stations were vandalized.
After the formation of the new interim government, in a meeting of the advisory council on August 11, it was decided that the metro rail will be launched from August 17. Metrorail will run normally from Uttara to Motijheel. However, on August 15, DMTCL Secretary Mohammad Abdur Rauf signed a notification saying that it is not possible to start the Metrorail from August 17. It said, due to unavoidable reasons, the necessary technical tests could not be started yet.
According to DMTCL sources recently, Metro Rail’s lines, coaches and signaling system are all fine. However, the reason why the metro rail did not start was due to the strike of the lower-level workers. Alleging that senior officials are taking extra benefits; the Metro Rail employees went on strike. That is why the metro rail was stopped even though there was no technical problem.
