Dhaka Mass Transit Company
Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh is one of the most highly populated and traffic congested cities in the world with an ever increasing population of over 14 million. With continued economic growth and development, unbearable traffic congestion all around the city has become a grim reality for its inhabitants. The congestion and pollution problems are rapidly growing due to rapid urbanization. In the absence of a dependable and adequate public transport system, most of the roads remain occupied by vehicles with very little capacity. Currently, the notable mass transit facility within the city in the form of Government and privately owned buses, and a very few railway routes are overburdened with the ever increasing demand of a better and modern commuting system within the city.
The urgency to mitigate the mass transportation problems in Dhaka prompted the Bangladesh Government to seek expansion and modernization of the city’s Mass transit mode. In 1998, Bangladesh Government created the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority. An urban transport plan was commissioned in 2008, wherein the Government laid out a comprehensive transport plan naming Strategic Transport Plan (STP) for the Greater Dhaka City and its adjoining areas. The plan looked at various Key Policy issues including safety, pedestrian preferences, public transport, non-motorized transport, travel demand management, mass transit systems, etc. From 70 different policy recommendations under the STP, 10 comprehensive transportation strategies were evaluated. Later the Strategic Transport Plan was revised and the newly adopted plan includes construction of 5 Metro Rail lines across the City. Under the Road Transport and Highways Division of the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, the Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project (DMRTDP) was taken up by the Government. In June 2013, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTC) was established by the Government to implement the Metro Rail Lines across the city.
MRT LINE-6 is being implemented to make life easier, for everyone in Dhaka. It will run all the way from Uttara to Motijheel, covering the distance of 18.9 kilometers, with 16 stations along the way. The stations are Uttara North, Uttara Center, Uttara South, Pallabi, Mirpur-11, Mirpur-10, Kazipara, Shewrapara, Agargaon, Bijoy Sarani, Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, Shahbagh, Dhaka University, Bangladesh Secretariat and Motijheel. The approximate travel time will be a little over half an hour. To maintain and use MRT line-6 properly, an international standard Rolling Stock will be deployed. There will be 24 sets of Trains each set consisting of   6 cars initially, with a plan for expanding to 8 cars per set in the future. In order to ensure safety for the passengers, Platform Screen Doors (PSD) will be installed on all stations. The Metro Rail coaches will be equipped with modern features like information display, well organized seating arrangement, Air-conditioning with Wheelchair accessibility on both ends of the Train. During Peak hours the trains will run every 4 minutes 30 seconds in 2021, and every 3 minutes 45 seconds in 2026. In 2021 an estimated 5 lakh people will commute by MRT Line-6 every day. The Viaduct of the MRT line-6 will be generally 10.4m high. In order to reduce vibration and noise, Floating Slab Track (FLS), Continuous Welded Rails (CWR) and Noise Barrier wall will be installed wherever necessary.

Once finished, it will be the most time efficient, reliable, safe, comfortable and environment friendly solution, that will transform Dhaka into a more active, commutable and sustainable city.