The authorities have completed all preparations to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the country's first elevated metro rail, a part of which is set for a festive launch today.

Ideally, around 80MW is needed for the metro rail's 11.73km between Uttara and Agargaon. However, as the government is starting the operations on a limited scale -- fewer trains to carry limited passengers for four hours, electricity consumption will be much lower.

Initially, trains will run between Uttara and Agargaon and will not stop at the seven other stations. The speed will be slower than usual for the first three months.

According to Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited, the eco-friendly metro rail will require 160MW of electricity per day after completing the entire route from Uttara to Kamalapur.

The electricity is being supplied directly from the national grid by the state-owned Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) through Desco and DPDC.

“We have two generators as backup. Special arrangements are also in place if power supply is not available from the national grid for any reason. In such cases, a train can be brought to the nearest station with electricity supplied from the metro rail's Energy Storage System (ESS),” said DMTCL General Manager Mir Manzoor Rahim.

“There is a provision of uninterrupted power supply for the metro rail movement till 2050. We will use electricity from the national grid,” he told Dhaka Tribune.

Manzoor added that the testing of railway lines, overhead catenary system, signaling system and automatic fare collection equipment between Uttara and Agargaon stations had been completed.

He noted that 1,500 volt DC current would be used in the Overhead Catenary System (OCS) to operate the trains with the help of pantographs.