6 carriages of Metrorail reached Mongla port
A vessel - SPM Bangkok - carried the coaches to Mongla port from Japan's Kobe
The first consignment of eight carriages of the capital's metrorail project arrived in Mongla port.
On Wednesday evening, the port authority began unloading the carriages imported from Japan.
Md Ohiduzzaman, general manager of Ancient Steamship Company Limited, the local shipping agent of the foreign ship that carried the consignment, said 138 more carriages manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industry Limited of Japan would be carried to the project site through Mongla port under the same package by 2022.
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ABM Arifur Rahman, one of the project directors of Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Company Limited, said 28 passenger coaches would be imported under Package-08 of MRT Line 6. Every coach will have 6 compartments.
Six compartments together cost around Tk100 crore, including VAT and tax.
"We have enough preparations. If the weather and Covid-19 situation do not worsen, six compartments will reach Mongla port every month from now on."
The carriages already imported will be brought through the river route to a jetty on the Turag River in the capital. From there, those will be transported to the Uttara site of the project.
Rear Admiral Mohammad Musa, chairman of the Mongla Port Authority, said the capacity of the port had been enhanced over the last few years.
"I hope the government will import significant goods through Mongla port in future," he said, adding that dredging work was underway to increase the port's capacity further.
