Bangladesh: Bangladesh has opened the first metro rail service in the capital city, Dhaka, as authorities work to ease congestion in one of the world’s most densely populated cities, where more than 20 million people live.

The elevated train network has been under construction for nearly a decade and is expected to have more than 100 stations and six lines crisscrossing the city by 2030.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Ms. Sheikh Hasina described the new railway as “a matter of pride”.

“We promised to eradicate traffic jams from Dhaka. With the six metro rail lines, we will be able to do so,” Ms. Hasina remarked.

The first metro line, Line 6, took around six years to build and was largely funded by Japan, Bangladesh’s development partner.

In the beginning, the service will run for around 12 kilometres from Uttara to Agargaon without stopping at any stations. The initial metro line will carry 60,000 people each hour when it is fully operational.

According to the Bangladesh president, the eventual six lines and more than 100 stations would help eradicate traffic jams, which are estimated to cost the Dhaka economy around $3 billion a year.

Ms. Hasina used the opening ceremony to honour six Japanese rail engineers who worked on the project and were killed in an attack on a Dhaka cafe in 2016.

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