Authorities to rent or lease out commercial space along metro stations

The authorities of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) have decided to rent or lease out commercial space of metro rail to generate additional income.

They have taken the decision in order to cope with the cost of operating metro rail services in the capital.

The DMTCL officials said metro rail services  cannot be operated round the year with only the fare realised from the passengers. The authorities would count huge losses if they depend only on the metro rail fare. So, they are considering leasing or renting out commercial space across the stations.

The officials informed that they are now working on drafting the leasing policy.

Contacted DMTCL Managing Director MAN Siddique told thereport.live: "Initially, we are planing to set up commercial outlets around the metro stations. But if we cannot make it to acquire lands around the stations, we would install commercial outlets inside the station plaza as those are multistoried. This procedure would be known as Transit Oriented Development(TOD)."

DMTCL Director (Planning and Development ) Md Moshiur Rahman told thereport.live that no country in the world can operate metro rail service with it’s earning by realising fare from the passengers. The government must provide subsidy in order to cope with the operation cost. So, the decision of leasing or renting out has been taken. We also have plan to set up amusement centres in Gabtoli, Agargaon and Uttara stations."

According to sources, leasers will be allowed to set up retail shops, stalls, departmental store, mini shop, fast food shop, coffee shop, food court, money exchange booth, ATM booth, vending machine, Koisk, relaxation booth, car booking booth at the rented space of the station.

Besides, spaces will be rented for advertising, shooting of drama or cinema, and organising short time campaigning or exhibition. The car parking space will also be leased out.

The conference and seminar room of metro rail stations will be rented out on daily or hourly basis. Even the piers of the rail line will be rented out for advertising.

The 20.15-km MRT-6 is being built from Uttara to Motijheel at a cost of Tk 22,000 crore. The work on the Agargaon-Motijheel segment is expected to be completed by 2023.

The current overall progress of the Uttara-Agargaon segment, scheduled to be opened for passengers in December, is 93.86 per cent.

The MRT-6 line has recently been decided to be extended to Kamalapur. The metro rail is expected to carry 60,000 people from Uttara to Motijheel in less than an hour.

The government has fixed the fare for the country‍‍`s first metro rail service -- Tk 100 maximum and Tk 20 minimum.

The per km fare would be Tk 5 for the 20km metro rail from Uttara to Motijheel.