Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the second phase of the much-awaited metro rail service from Agargaon to Motijheel today.

She inaugurated the route at 2:30pm today from the Agargaon station. 

Afterwards, she boarded the metro to Motijheel for another inaugural programme at the Motijheel station.

Using the metro rail, commuters in Dhaka will be able to cover the 20.1km distance from Uttara to Motijheel in just 31 minutes, a distance that would have taken more than an hour on the road.

The premier will also inaugurate the construction work of MRT Line-5 (Northern route), which will be a 20-km line from Hemayetpur to Bhatara via Gabtoli, Mirpur-10, Gulshan. 

The deadline for the Tk41,239 crore project is 2028.

Starting 5 November, commuters will be able to take the train from Uttara to Motijheel, said Managing Director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) MAN Siddique.

He also said regular metro service from Uttara to Agargaon will be suspended today (4 November) due to the inauguration ceremony.

Earlier on 28 December, the prime minister inaugurated the first phase of the first-ever metro rail from Uttara to Agargaon.

Besides, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said that the metro rail will stop at three stations on the Agargaon-Motijheel section.

"The length of the Agargaon to Motijheel section is 8.72km. The metro rail will stop at Farmgate, Secretariat and Motijheel stations," he said.

On the Uttara-Motijheel route, the metro will run daily from 7:30am to 11:30am from 5 November, the minister said.

He also added that after 11:30am, metro rail movement will be stopped on the Motijheel-Agargaon route, while it will operate up to 8:30pm in the Uttara-Agargaon section.

Considering convenience, the route has been extended by 1.16 km from Motijheel to Kamalapur. 

Quader said the extended portion will be completed by June 2024.

Each train can run at a speed of 100 to 110 km with 2,300 passengers. However, the speed will be lower in areas with bends.

The metro rail will be able to carry 60,000 passengers per hour and half a million passengers per day, and one train will arrive at each station every four minutes, according to the project details.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has been constructing the metro rail and providing soft loans to the project. The JICA gave Tk19,500 crore for the project.