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Mono rail, LRT not studied under four major plans

Although at least four major transport plans were taken for the capital city since 1990s, the scope of launching mono rail or light rapid transit (LRT) as a mode of mass transit system was never studied. Officials and experts termed lack of right focus on local-level passenger demands as well as d

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Mono rail, LRT not studied under four major plans

Munima Sultana
Published :
Jan 31, 2026 08:37
Updated :
Jan 31, 2026 11:57

Although at least four major transport plans were taken for the capital city since 1990s, the scope of launching mono rail or light rapid transit (LRT) as a mode of mass transit system was never studied.

Officials and experts termed lack of right focus on local-level passenger demands as well as dominance of donor-funded studies to meet their own mandate of introducing specific transport modes as the causes behind it.

At present, the capital's transport plans are supposed to be taken following guidance of the strategic transport plan (STP), first formulated in 2005. Due to not following options of the plan properly, the 20-year long transport plan was revised twice in 2015 and 2025, shifting only the number of modes.

The STP 2005 proposed three mass rapid transits (MRTs) and three bus rapid transits (BRTs) for the first time for the Dhaka metropolitan. The number of MRTs increased to five and BRTs reduced to two during the first revision of STP in 2015. Of the total, no MRTs have seen the light of implementation after 20 years, except the MRT-6.

The latest RSTP 2025, which is now at the final stage for approval, has updated transport options, focusing on the extension of all proposed MRTs of the RSTP than new corridor development.

Earlier, the Dhaka Integrated Transport Study (DITS) 1994 and the Dhaka Urban Transport Project (DUTP) 1997 focused on bus and circular waterways, and mixing of bus- and rail-based transit as mass transport respectively. Institutional development, traffic management, road network improvement through various infrastructure facilities, etc, were among the focuses of these plans.

The World Bank (WB) funded the first STP, while the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funded the RSTP, and the Asian Development Bank funded updating of the RTSP. The DITS was funded with cooperation of the UNDP and the WB, and the DUTP by the WB.

In between, the JICA funded the Dhaka Urban Transport Network Development Study (DHUTS) during 2009-2010, which was the pre-feasibility study for the city's first MRT, based on the STP 2005-proposed mass transit options.

Officials connected with the RSTP 2025 said as monorail or LRT was not included in the terms of reference, the latest revision of STP did not focus on it.

BUET Professor Mohammad Shamsul Hoque alleged that the city's transport master plans have been done on donor-specific interest for investment. Despite requiring much lower investment than metro rail, the donors were not interested in other options (monorail or LRT).

If scopes of exploring these were taken into account, the Dhaka city could have mass transit corridors much earlier with low investment than the present, he claimed.

However, some transport experts and analysts said though MRTs require high investment, their passenger transit capacity and scope of coverage are higher than monorail or LRT.

Speed limit, mileage, and frequency of stations are also limited in one rail-based mass transport systems. Monorail or LRT can be used for feeder corridors than prime, they added.

Chief Advisor's Special Assistant on Rail and Road Transport Sheikh Moinuddin said considering the number of commuters and the reality of city roads, combination of different modes of transport should be considered.

"MRT, LRT or monorail - which system would be prime movers for the city - should be reviewed in the country's context," he told the FE.

According to experts, LRT is like a middle ground solution for the lower demand corridors as a way to connect the MRT lines. The highest capacity of monorail is 30,000 passengers per hour per direction (PPHPD), but it is double in the case of MRTs. The densely-populated Dhaka city's passenger demand on one corridor is said to be 60,000 to higher.

The monorail or LRT has been under discussion in the recent days due to slowing down of the planned MRTs and total stoppage of development of BRTs. The cost of the next metro rail corridor is likely to reach Tk 1.0 trillion due to delay and lack of proper review of its study and design. The BRT corridor development project has also been closed recently due to various reasons.​

 

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Costs of two MRT projects set to soar

Costs of two of the upcoming projects for the construction of mass rapid transit lines, popularly known as metro rail, are likely to soar by a huge amount of money due mainly to some engineering conditions added by the Japanese donor...

www.newagebd.net

Costs of two MRT projects set to soar
Shahin Akhter 25 February, 2026, 23:59

Costs of two of the upcoming projects for the construction of mass rapid transit lines, popularly known as metro rail, are likely to soar by a huge amount of money due mainly to some engineering conditions added by the Japanese donor.

Expressing concerns, road transport sector experts said that these projects could lead the country to bankruptcy due to the burden of ‘illogical’ expenditures.

Officials of the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited, the implementing agency of the metro rail system, said that the government would make decision regarding the cost of these projects.

The work to build a network of about 141 kilometres of six MRT lines, comprising both elevated and underground ones, by 2030 started in 2016 in the Dhaka city to reduce traffic congestion and improve the environment in the capital and its suburbs.

Japan is providing loans for the construction of the first three MRT lines in Bangladesh through the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Out of the six projects, metro trains are now running on the Uttara–Motijheel portion of the elevated 21.26 kilometres long MRT Line 6 project. The portion took about six years to be completed.

Works on its extension till Kamalapur are now going on while the project costs Tk 33,472 crore.

The 31.241-kilometre MRT Line 1, on the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport-Kamalapur route, will be the first underground metro rail system in Bangladesh and its construction work started on February 2, 2023, while it was approved in December 2019.

For the MRT Line 1 project, the government estimated the cost at about Tk 52,500 crore with the deadline till December this year.

As per the contractors’ proposal, the estimated cost of the project reached about Tk 96,500 crore.

The construction of the 20-kilometre MRT Line 5’s Northern Route, on Hemayetpur-Bhatara route, started on November 4, 2023, with an estimated cost of Tk 41,200 crore and the December 2028 deadline.

For the project, approved in October 2019, as per the contractors’ proposal the estimated cost of the project now stands at about Tk 88,000 crore.

DMTCL managing director Faruque Ahmed said that the Japanese lending agency JICA had added several engineering conditions to the financing of the two projects.

As a result, competition in hiring contractors has decreased, he said, adding that this was one of the reasons why the current estimated costs were so high.

‘We do not know why the contractors are asking for so much cost,’ Faruque said, adding that now the government would make decision about the projects’ cost.

The managing director added that metro rail system was necessary for the capital while it was also important how cheaply a MRT line could be built instead of putting burden on people.

Professor Shamsul Hoque, who teaches civil engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said that there was a grave concern that these projects could lead the state to financial bankruptcy due to burden of ‘illogical’ expenditure.

Since the debt must be repaid in foreign currency, it places an immense pressure on the country and the people, especially as the Awami League government, which was ousted in August 2024 in the wake of a mass uprising, had already left behind a heavy debt load, said Shamsul, also an expert on transport engineering and road safety.

He also alleged that a syndicated tendering process where Japanese contractors and consultants dominated because the experience requirements were tailored to them, prevented competitive bidding, resulting in only a couple of contractors bidding for packages and then splitting the work.

Mentioning the routes of MRL line 1 and 5 (northern route), Shamsul further said that investing heavily in lines towards areas like Purbachal and Bhatara was ‘questionable’ because those areas were not yet fully inhabited.

‘This means the investment may never be recovered through fares, forcing the government into high subsidies,’ he observed.

The government should be visionary and consider international tenders rather than relying solely on one donor to ensure that public money is used for sustainable and cost-effective development, he added.​

 

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undefined | The Financial Express

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Will new govt fix the chaotic public transport?

Tanim Asjad
Published :
Mar 06, 2026 22:46
Updated :
Mar 06, 2026 22:46

People in Dhaka and across the country are exasperated by the chaotic, inefficient public transport system. Previous governments failed to develop an efficient system. Abrupt and disjointed measures meant to fix public transport only made things more chaotic. As a result, mobility for regular commuters is costly in time, safety and money. Over the past few decades, various studies have addressed problems such as unbearable traffic congestion and road indiscipline. Short-term and long-term plans were made. Still, except for the introduction of the metro rail service in Dhaka, no effective measure was taken to alleviate the suffering linked to daily commute by millions. Now that the newly elected government has assumed power with a two-thirds majority in parliament, a valid question has come to the fore. Will it prioritise the issue of addressing the chaotic system of public transport?

In its 48-page election manifesto, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) outlined measures to make public transport more efficient, acknowledging that the country faces serious obstacles from inefficiency and disorder in the transport sector. In this context, the manifesto stressed special initiatives "to expand and improve the public transport system to alleviate traffic congestion and make public transport more effective and accessible in densely populated cities." The assertion reflects a proper understanding of the problem, which is necessary before taking any measures to fix it.

The manifesto's measures include relocating inter-district bus terminals and illegal truck stands outside the city, freeing footpaths from illegal encroachment, and gradually removing slow-moving, unsafe, and unsuitable vehicles from the roads. If the government takes strong steps to keep footpaths free and well-maintained, it will reduce traffic congestion, as people will walk more easily for short distances. Providing safe walkways can also reduce the need for para-transit, easing street congestion. Currently, para-transits like motorcycles and battery-run rickshaws have increased congestion, making traffic movement chaotic and disorganised. Stringent measures are needed to curb the spread of these para-transits, along with better alternatives to improve daily commuters' mobility.

An important commitment of the party's manifesto is the implementation of the bus route rationalisation programme through coordination of urban planning and transport policy. Though the programme was recognised by the ousted Hasina regime as a critical step towards improving overall traffic movement in Dhaka, no effective action was taken. In the name of route rationalisation and franchisation, deliberations and meetings were held aplenty, along with a trial run of dedicated buses on a few routes. The move did not yield any benefit due to non-cooperation from transport owners and law-enforcement agencies.

It is well known that the public transport sector in the country is heavily criminalised due to rampant illegal toll backed by the political party in power. For more than 15 years, leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) controlled the illegal extortion, and it was not unknown to the Hasina-led government. Nevertheless, the BAL did not try to curb the criminalisation.

After the fall of the tyrannical government on August 5, 2024, new extortionists replaced those who had controlled the transport sector. The Yunus-led interim regime was unable to stop them, so chaos in public transport continued. Commuters in Dhaka still struggle daily with ramshackle, unfit, air and sound-polluting buses. The new government needs to crack down on illegal extortion from the start to discipline the public transport sector by gradually implementing the election manifesto.

The new transport minister's recent statement regarding extortion gives a disappointing message. Within three days of taking charge, he publicly stated that money collected from transport operators on the roads through mutual agreement is not extortion, but a contribution. He also added that if someone is forced to pay, it is surely extortion. His remarks drew strong criticism from different quarters for valid reasons, and many interpreted the minister's statement as an endorsement of illegal extortion in the transport sector. The minister needs to be careful in making any comments, especially on issues like extortion in the transport sector, as people are fed up. They are also in no mood to listen to a lecture on the difference between collecting money through mutual understanding and forceful collection or extortion. Instead, the transport minister and his team need to focus on implementing their manifesto to fix chaotic public transport.​