Dhaka Metro resumes operations after protest shutdown: What commuters need to know

Metro rides return to Dhaka to ease traffic woes but two stations will remain closed

The Dhaka Metro resumed services on Sunday over a month after it was shut for passengers during the unprecedented anti-government protests in Bangladesh.

Passengers arrive at a metro train station in Dhaka on August 25, 2024. Bangladesh's metro railine in the notoriously congested capital Dhaka resumed on August 25, more than a month after it was closed during peak of student-led protests that eventually toppled the government. (Photo by Rahman ASAD / AFP)

Two stations -- Mirpur 10 and Kazipara -- will however remain closed, according to an official notification.

Commuters, especially students and office-goers heaved a sigh of relief as they had to travel through Dhaka's notorious traffic congestions daily to reach their destinations.

According to the official notification, the services resumed in the morning around 7 AM.

Mirpur-10 and Kazipara stations were vandalised in July during the anti-government protests. The Dhaka Metro services were shut for passengers in the third week of July.

"We are planning to make the metro rail infrastructure a key point installation with enhanced security for its protection from any kind of vandalism," Road Transport and Communication Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan said.

Khan said the interim government also plans to declare metro rail operations as an essential service to prevent any disruption in the service.

He travelled to Agargon station to Bangladesh Secretariate in the metro.

A Dhaka High Court official told PTI that he used the metro on Sunday to travel to his office, and the resumption of services has come as a big relief for daily commuters like him.

On December 28, 2022, Bangladesh launched its first metro rail service with Japanese assistance to ease commuting in the capital Dhaka, one of the most congested cities in the world.

Called, Dhaka MRT Line 6 it initially operated on an 11.73-km section from Uttara North to Agargaon, consisting of nine stations. The then prime minister Sheikh Hasina had inaugurated the project.

In November 2023, the section from Agargaon to Motijheel having eight stations and spanning 9.53 km, was inaugurated by Hasina.

After unprecedented anti-government protests which reached a crescendo on August 5, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India, even as protesters had termed the fall of the government and her departure a "day of victory".