Metro services from Uttara to Motijheel resume after load-bearing pad reinstalled

Highlights:

• Dhaka metro rail resumed at 11:10am today after fixing a dislodged bearing pad near Farmgate.
• The pad on pillar 433 fell yesterday, killing one and injuring two.
• DMTCL inspected all bearing pads before reopening.
• A similar incident occurred near the same spot in September 2024.

Dhaka metro rail services from Uttara North to Motijheel resumed this morning (27 October) after the reinstallation of a bearing pad that had dislodged from a pillar near the Farmgate station a day earlier, causing a fatal accident and temporary service suspension.

Train operations on the entire operational stretch of this metro line resumed at around 11:10am, after Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), which operates the Dhaka metro rail, had announced that services would resume uninterrupted at 11am.

Earlier, the bearing pad on pillar 433 near Farmgate station had been reinstalled after it was dislodged yesterday, resulting in the death of a pedestrian and causing a suspension of metro operations on one section.

A DMTCL official told The Business Standard earlier, "The dislodged bearing pad has been reinstalled, and a trial run is ongoing. The Farmgate station will reopen very soon. Once the trial is complete, metro operations will resume."

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He added, "We have also inspected other bearing pads along the line to ensure there are no similar issues. Once the trial is complete, trains will run on the entire line."

Yesterday, at around 12:20pm, a load-bearing pad on pillar 433 near the Farmgate metro station detached and fell, resulting in one death and injuries to two others, also disrupting services for hours.

Just a year ago, on 18 September 2024, a bearing pad on pillar 430 near the same station fell from the metro structure. Although no casualties occurred then, services were suspended for nearly 11 hours.