Metro rail disruption leads to immense suffering for Dhaka commuters

As the Metro rail services on the Agargaon-Motijheel route have been suspended since 9:40am today due to a “technical glitch”, commuters across the capital have been going through immense suffering.
In a Facebook post, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) confirmed that while trains are operating between Uttara North and Agargaon, all services towards Motijheel have been halted.
At Agargaon station, staff were announcing that trains would not continue past the station due to a technical issue. As a result, hundreds of commuters were forced to disembark and seek alternative transportation, leading to severe traffic congestion across the city.
The disruption has affected students, officegoers, and others, many of whom missed important appointments and work schedules due to the delays.
Samia Haque, a commuter who boarded the metro at Mirpur 11 told this newspaper, “I got on the metro around 9:30 am, and shortly after, an announcement was made that the train wouldn’t go beyond Agargaon. We were stuck at Shewrapara station for about 20 minutes, and when the metro finally moved, it crawled slowly to Agargaon, where the journey ended. The station became overcrowded, and navigating the stairs was risky due to the crowd.”
Samia added that after walking to Bijoy Sarani, she managed to find a rickshaw but was stuck in traffic for another 30 minutes. “It took me two hours to get from Mirpur 11 to my office in Karwan Bazar,” she added.
Another commuter, a student, from Mirpur-2, shared a similar experience saying that, “It took me two hours to reach Karwan Bazar. I didn’t take the metro, but the roads were completely jammed, and I saw hundreds of people walking. I had to walk from Khamarbari to Karwan Bazar to reach my destination.”
She also mentioned that many commuters were seen walking long distances or travelling in pickup vans due to the shortage of public transport.
Addressing the situation, a DMTCL official said, “We have detected some problems on the metro rail tracks between Bijoy Sarani and Farmgate. Work is ongoing to fix the issue, and we hope to resolve it by this afternoon.”