Metro services resume as Dhaka returns to normalcy

Dhaka, August 25

With the Metro resuming services, buses and taxis plying regularly and university students enjoying carefree evening strolls in the gardens of the historic Curzon Hall - life seems to be returning to normal in Dhaka. Businesses have resumed but it’s not business as usual in the capital city of Bangladesh.

The Dhaka Metro resumed services on Sunday over a month after it was shut for passengers during the unprecedented anti-government protests in Bangladesh with two of its stations bearing the brunt of vandalism.

These 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 an official notification, the services resumed in the morning around 7 am.

“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. He travelled between Agargon station and Bangladesh Secretariat station in the metro.