Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has inaugurated the construction work of the country's first underground metro rail, MRT Line 1, by the Shitalaksha River in Pitalganj village about a kilometre south of the Kanchan Bridge along the 14-lane Purbachal Expressway.

She inaugurated the MRT-1 construction at a ceremony held in Purbachal New Town Project in Rupganj, Narayanganj, on Thursday (2 February).

The joint venture of Japan's Tokyu Construction and local Max Infrastructure has assembled dozens of excavators and other equipment in the construction yard to start the development work following the inauguration.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the MRT Line 1 to develop an underground metro rail from the capital's Airport to Kamlapur with an elevated link from Natunbazar to Purbachal on 15 October 2019. The project is scheduled to be completed within December 2026, after which 8 lakh people will be able to commute daily on the metro.

The total length of Metrorail Line-1 is 31.241 kilometers, both underground and elevated.  The length of the underground section from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Kamalapur Railway Station is 19.87km.

On the other hand, an elevated part will be constructed from Natun Bazar to Purbachal, the length of which is 11.36 km. There will be 12 stations on the underground subway and 7 on the elevated way.

A total of 25 trains, each having eight coaches, will operate on the line.

The total cost of the project now stands at Tk52,561.43 crore. Of the total amount, the Government of Bangladesh will provide Tk13,111.11 crore and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) will provide a soft loan of Tk39,450.32 crore.

The project will be implemented in 12 packages with the construction work of package 1, which includes soil improvement and development on the 35.90-hectare land for the depot.

The Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) officials said that the travel time from Kamlapur to Airport will drop to 24.3 minutes from 139 minutes after the metro rail service opens, saving 85% travel time.

The line will also help save 70% travel time on the Purbachal to Natun Bazar line and 82% on Purbachal to Kamlapur line.