Metro rail wheels roll for first time

The wheels of the much-awaited metro rail of Dhaka rolled for the first time on Tuesday. It was just a test run in an exhibition at Uttara’s Diabari to show the six new bogies brought from Japan.

The metro rail is also the country’s first electric-run train.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader as the chief guest inaugurated the programme virtually.

The train with a set of six bogies travelled about 500 metres in the test run.

Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki, JICA Chief Representative Yuho Hayakawa, and other senior officials were present at the workshop to inspect the overall progress of the Metrorail project.

The Japanese ambassador later said Covid pandemic and Holy Artisan hampered the project.

The ambassador also assured that Japan would always stand by Bangladesh as a development partner.

Later in a video conference, Roads and Bridges Minister ObaidulQuader said, “The project is being implemented to improve communication in the country. Metrorail is no longer a dream, it is real. Another set of trains arrived at Mongla port.”