The country's first ever metro rail project will be completed by 2020, four years before the stipulated time, said Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday.

The works up to Agargaon will be completed within 2019 and the entire works from Uttara third phase to Bangladesh Bank [at Motijheel] within 2020, he said.

“The project is scheduled to be completed by 2024,” Quader told reporters after joining a contract signing ceremony regarding the metro rail project at a Dhaka hotel.

However, the overall real progress of the project is 15 percent till April 16, 2018, according to the documents provided by the authorities to journalists yesterday.

The government signed contracts with two joint-venture companies for constructing a portion of metro rail, formally known as MRT Line-6, to give the project a further boost.

Works of MRT Line-6 are divided into eight packages. Package 5 and 6 are for the construction of viaducts and elevated stations from Agargaon to Motijheel.

Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL), the government company formed to implement the metro rail lines, singed two separate contracts for package 5 and 6.

DMTCL signed Tk 1,855 crore contract for package 5 with a joint venture of Takken Corporation, Abdul Monem Ltd and Abenikko. It signed Tk 2,332 crore deal with another joint venture of Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co Ltd and Italian-Thai Development Public Company Ltd for package 6. Among the firms, Abdul Monem Ltd is a Bangladeshi one.

DMTCL Managing Director MAN Siddique singed for his company while Tsuyooshi Nishimura and Ikuo Kitada singed for their respective joint venture.

Under the project, they will construct 8.1 kilometre viaducts and seven stations from Agargaon to Motijheel.

After the programme, Quader said metro rail work fell behind for six months following Holey Artisan tragedy but it could not dampen the project and spirit of Japanese companies and Jica.

Project director Aftabuddin Talukder also said under special initiative, MRT Line-6 will be commissioned from Uttara to Agargaon by 2019 and Agargaon to Motijheel by 20120.

MAN Siddique said metro rail is no more a dream rather it is a reality. He also urged the new contractors to compete their works with quality in time.

Roads Transport and Bridges Division Secretary Nazrul Islam, Takeshi Ito, Charge D Affairs of Japan embassy in Dhaka, Takatoshi Nishikata, chief representative of Jica Bangladesh Office, were present at the programme.

The Tk 22,000 crore ($2.5 billion) project is aimed at easing traffic congestion in the capital through an improved, faster, comfortable and time-bound public transportation service.

Once the project is implemented, a train with six air-conditioned spacious coaches will operate every four minute, enabling a commuter to travel from Uttara to Motijheel in just 38 minutes which now takes around two hours.

A total of 24 such trains would carry 60,000 passengers every hour to both directions and drastically cut the number of private cars on the streets.

The metro rail will have stations at 16 points of the city -- including at Uttara, Pallabi, Mirpur, Kazipara, Shewrapara, Agargaon, Rokeya Sarani, Bijoy Sarani, Farmgate, Sonargaon Hotel, Shahbagh, Doel Chattar, Topkhana Road and Motijheel.