A mock public run of Dhaka metro happens soon to show passengers how to take such a sophisticated rail ride through hands-on demonstration on methods of getting in a station, taking tickets, and ascending and descending from trains.
Officials say a centre outside Uttara depot has been equipped with full station facilities for the demonstration of trains.
The Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) has readied the process of the demo at the exhibition and information centre outside the depot.
The demonstration is part of the DMTCL move to make people familiar with this new kind of high-tech transport system for overhead haulage across the overcrowded megacity.
According to officials, the centre will have an infopack on the mass rapid transit (MRT) system and the demo of facilities like the entrance to the station area, ticket area and trains.
Half coach of the train set will be put on display with ticket gate and time-based door opening and closing to understand MRT riding and alighting. Two sets of the dummy MRT will be operating for public view.
"It will have all facilities and systems needed for operating the MRT smoothly," says an official about the dress rehearsal before the long-delayed commissioning of the over-ground Dhaka metro.
However, DMTCL managing director MAN Siddique said the opening of the centre to the public would take one more month or two as the company wants to observe the coronavirus situation during the period.
Although the pandemic situation is improving in Bangladesh, he says, the time is taken to ensure the MRT working area be free from the spread of infection.
"As foreign nationals will also be at the centre to display MRT activities, this breathing space is given," Mr Siddique told the FE while talking over the phone.
The MRT will transform the traditional system of public transport to new and sophisticated modes, making many apprehend any technical problem or difficulty in time-based running for lack of knowledge on part of commuters.
Students of various educational institutions will initially be invited to the centre followed by government and non-government agencies to understand the workings of the new system and to do any study and research. The general public will also be allowed in the centre during office hours.
The DMTCL has started test run of the first train set from Uttara depot to Pallabi as part of its plan to inaugurate the first half of the 20.1-kilometre MRT line-06 by December 2022.
smunima@yahoo.com