Subway in Dhaka city

By A.K.M. Fazlur Rahman, Dhaka
18 July 2006, 18:00 PM
Dhaka city saw many initiatives to ease its transportation problem. But the situation has not improved. We all know that Dhaka city lacks an adequate number of roads and there is no provision to expand the road network. I was excited to hear about the 52 km long subway, but I was shocked to observe that there was no feasibility study for that. We had bad experience about our flyovers. The government is not spending any money on this, they will hand it over to a private company. But what will be the impact of its construction on surface traffic?

There is a strategic transportation plan for Dhaka city and I am wondering whether the subway is part of that plan. Will the route of this underground railway cover all the busy locations of Dhaka city? What about the future expansion of the underground railway? Is there any provision for that? There is no indication of the type of train that will be available and the speed of the train. The subway should also have proper protection against flood and earthquake. The fare is also a matter of concern, because as we can see the private bus operators are charging exorbitant fares and the government has no control over them.

Considering all this, I think the government should conduct a proper feasibility study before giving the final nod to the proposal.