Bangladesh launches its first metro rail service

Bangladesh launched its first metro rail service, mostly funded by Japan, in the densely populated capital on Wednesday amid enthusiasm that the South Asian country’s development bonanza would continue with both domestic and overseas fundsA limited version of the metro service was launched on Wednesday, and is expected to grow to over 100 stations and six lines crisscrossing the city by 2030.

A section of the first line connects a prime neighborhood on Dhaka’s periphery with the city centre. It was built with a $2.8 billion price tag and largely funded by JICA.The line is expected to carry 60-thousand people each hour when it is fully operational, according to project documents.Dhaka is one of the world’s most densely populated cities with over 20 million people who struggle to commute on clogged roads.