Metro rail to require 160MW electricity for daily operation

The under-construction metro rail will require 160 megawatts of electricity for its daily operation. To meet up the demand, a separate 132KV capacity sub-station has already been installed, said officials.

Installation of another sub-station is underway. As the metro rail project is yet to be fully completed, 80MW electricity will be supplied from the station, said officials of the metro rail project.

Two foreign companies — Japanese Marubeni and Indian L&T (Larsen & Toubru) will be supervising the necessary electricity supply for the metro rail project.

Bangladesh is set to enter into the electric railway system for the first time through implementation of this metro rail project. Once the metro rail is fully operated by electricity, it will decline carbon emission significantly.

The Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) is responsible for supplying the electricity for the metro rail project. This firm is doing all electric works including installation of the sub-station.

“The metro rail is an important project. Electricity will be directly supplied to metro rail from the national grid. However, the electricity bill will be collected through a specific power distribution company,” PGCB managing director Golam Kibria told the Business Insider Bangladesh on Thursday.

The PGCB will manage the electricity supply to the metro rail. Under supervision of Marubeni and L&T (Larsen & Toubru), work on installing a 132KV-capacity sub-station ended in the city’s Diabari area. Besides, installation of another similar power station is in progress in the Motijheel area.

Although electricity is being supplied from the National Power Grid its bill will be taken through Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO) and Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC).

The officials said that metro rail construction work from Agargoan to Uttara was about to be completed and initially the metro rail will run up to Agargoan. For this, required 80MW electricity will be supplied from Diabari sub-station.

Metro rail will be conducted by Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL). The train has been manufactured by Japanese Kawasaki company. A set consisting six coaches will run and a total of 700 passengers will be able to use it at a time. The train will take 38 minutes to reach Motijheel from Diabari. The train will stop at stations after 45 seconds and there will be a total 17 stations. To run trains, 52 drivers will be hired and one of them is appointed. Process is underway to recruit 30 more candidates who have passed written and viva tests.

The officials said that as per plan, the metro rail is scheduled to start commercial operation from December. Out of Depot, the first train of the metro rail, will be put on the elevated expressway in June to conduct primary check-up. After primary check-up, a coordinated test will be conducted. After completing several tests, the trains will be open to the ordinary passengers in December.

Metro rail project director Aftab Uddin Talukdar told the Business Insider Bangladesh that up to now overall 68 per cent of progress of the project works has been completed. “We hope that within this year, we will be able to operate metro rail up to Agargoan. Once the metro rail gets operational, appearance of Dhaka city will be changed,”

Eighty-five percent works from Uttara to Agargoan has been completed while 60 percent works from Agargoan to Motjheel has been done. The construction of 15 kilometres among 20 kilometres elevated expressway has already been completed. The rail line construction in the Depots has also been done by this time. A 12-kilometer railway from Diabari to Agargaon has become visible. The 129-kilometer metro rail path will be connected with many points in and around the Dhaka city. Of them, 68-kilometre rail path will be under-ground. A total of 104 stations, including 53 underground ones, will be made ready. The rail will run on six routes.