Bangladesh: Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project Readiness Financing (Line 5, Southern Route)

Transport / Urban public transport

The proposed PRF will support the preparation and high project readiness of the ensuing loan. The PRF will prepare the detailed feasibility study, engineering design, and procurement document; and provide assistance in procurement-related processes.

The ensuing project of MRT Line 5 (Southern Route) will comprise a total length of about 17.4 km between Gabtoli and Dasherkandi stations. The congested central area of Dhaka requires 12.8 km of underground section with 12 stations, while the remaining section will be elevated with 4 stations. The ensuing project will be considered after completing the engineering design supported by the PRF.

Despite its fast-growing population and corresponding traffic demand, Dhaka lacks an alternative mass transit network and relies heavily on road transport. Bangladesh Railway, the only railway system currently available in Dhaka, provides two commuter service lines between Dhaka and Narayagonj, and Dhaka and Joydevpur, which carry a total of about 25,000 passengers per day. Almost all of the 15 million daily trips generated in the area are accommodated by road transport. An estimated 47% of passenger trips are made by buses and 14% by cars. The number of vehicles in Dhaka has been steadily increasing. About 140,000 vehicles were newly registered in 2017, including about 20,000 private cars. Traffic volume in Dhaka already exceeds the road capacity by 20% on average during peak hours, and by more than 100% on particular sections in the central areas, causing serious traffic congestion on major trunk roads. The average speed of travel by road is just 6.4 km per hour during morning peak hours. The total economic loss caused by traffic congestion is estimated at about 7% of the gross domestic product

The Revised Strategic Transport Plan (RSTP), approved in 2016 as an urban transport master plan, estimates that 1.0 million to 2.6 million trips will be generated per day in 2035 between zones in central Dhaka. The generated traffic across the zones will concentrate on limited trunk roads that mainly run north and south. New public transport modalities can only be implemented along those trunk roads. Given this constraint, the master plan identifies six distinct public transport corridors with high passenger traffic demand that connect Dhaka's central business district with surrounding satellite regional centers. The high demand along these corridors requires public transport capacity of 18,000 to 46,000 passengers per hour per direction (PPHPD), which will be effectively accommodated only by a high-capacity transit system. The RSTP proposes five MRT lines and two bus rapid transit (BRT) lines along the identified corridors. An efficient transit system will also help manage expanding urbanization through transit-oriented development and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. These MRTs and BRTs are scheduled to be completed by 2035. The government has an action plan to advance the target of completion of three priority MRT lines (1, 5, and 6) to 2030 at the latest.

The planned MRT Line 5, with its both north and south sections, will have daily boarding passengers of 1,478,600 and PPHPD of 28,340 in 2035. Though demand is less than on MRT Line 1 and Line 6 (which also runs north-south), the government places a high value on Line 5 as an essential and priority MRT line to create an effective public transport network in Dhaka, serving one of the few east-west corridors and providing intermodal stations with other MRT and BRT lines in the north-south direction.

ADB's country partnership strategy, 2016-2020 aims to ease infrastructure constraints by undertaking transformational investments in key sectors, including transport. ADB places a high value on assistance for urban transport capacity expansion and efficiency improvements. ADB has supported a prefeasibility study of the proposed MRT Line 5 (Southern Route) under project preparation technical assistance. The prefeasibility study examined the traffic demand forecast, operational plan, preliminary alignment, locations of the stations and a depot, preliminary equipment specifications, preliminary safeguard surveys, cost estimates, and economic and financial analyses. The proposed PRF will ensure high project readiness of the large-scale ensuing MRT Line 5 (Southern Route) project and mobilize financing resources required for the project's engineering design. The proposed PRF is listed in ADB's country operations business plan, 2019-2021 for Bangladesh.

Engineering Design (Package No. PRF-DM-CO-01)

Internal Audit (PRF-DM-CO-02)

Individual consultants to support DMTCL (PRF-DM-IC)