Daylong partial suspension of metro rail services on the Agargaon-Motijheel section following the fall off of a portion of the superstructure caused huge sufferings for the passengers on Wednesday.
The services came to a halt at 9:40am and resumed at 8:25pm while the services remained normal on the Uttara-Agaragaon section.
Metro rail services open at 7:10am and close at 9:40pm.
Meanwhile, an office order issued by the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited on the same day read that the metro rail services would be available on Fridays from tomorrow.
On Fridays, the trains would run between 3:30pm and 9:00pm on Uttara-Motijheel route and between 3:50pm and 9:40pm on Motijheel-Uttara route, it added.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, the company issued a post on its Facebook page saying that for unavoidable reasons metro rail services had been kept closed on Agargaon-Motijheel route from 9:40am.
One of the four bearing pads placed between a metro rail pier and viaduct near the Farmgate station got displaced and fell to the ground at that time, said Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited director (planning and development) Md Abdul Baquee Miah.
Bearing pads are placed between the viaduct and the pier on the elevated structures like bridges and metro rail, he said, adding that these pads transmit the load from superstructures to piers and absorb the vibrations caused by the movement of the metro trains.
鈥榃e do not know why the pad fell,鈥� the director said, adding, 鈥榯he consultants will investigate the matter.鈥�
The passengers suffered due to the disruptions in the services on the 20.1-kilometre-long Uttara鈥揗otijheel route.
Though they used the Uttara-Agargaon portion, they suffered due to severe traffic congestion at the busiest traffic intersections of the capital across the day.
Passengers were forced to use other vehicles like buses, CNG-run auto-rickshaws and motorcycles.
They also expressed about their agonies on social media like Facebook.
Services of metro rail disrupted frequently this year.
For technical glitches the services disrupted on July 7, May 25, March 19, February 17 and February 4.
On May 27, the metro rail service was disrupted throughout the day due to technical glitches caused by the cyclone Remal.
On March 31, the services of metro rail remained suspended for about two hours due to a thunderstorm and falling plastic litter on the overhead catenary.
On February 14, a stray kite falling on the power cable kept the metro rail services on hold for about an hour.
In 2023, the services of metro rail remained suspended three times on August 7, 9 and 21 mainly due to technical glitches and operational reasons.
