Bangladesh transit rail back on track after protest closure
- Dhaka’s metro is seen by many as the success of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s government despite accusations of widespread abuses
Bangladesh’s metro railway in the notoriously congested capital Dhaka resumed on Sunday, more than a month after it was closed during the peak of student-led protests that eventually toppled the prime minister.
Much in the troubled South Asian nation remains in political turmoil since the revolution that ousted Sheikh Hasina and ended her 15-year-long iron-fisted rule, but on Sunday, the trains at least were back on track.
Dhaka is one of the world’s most densely populated cities, and the railway is a critical transport link in the sprawling megacity of some 20 million people.
Banker Shaheen Sultana said she was delighted her commute to work was a “relaxed” affair after weeks of car-clogged gridlock on the roads.
“I am very happy that it is working again,” 40-year-old Sultana said, as she exited a station near her workplace in the city’s commercial heart. “It is a great relief.”
The elevated train network was closed in mid-July during the student-led protest.