The government has scrapped the unfinished Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project from Dhaka airport to Gazipur, 14 years after it was taken up in December 2012 and after five extensions of its deadline.
The cabinet took the decision at a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Oct 18.
The next day, Oct 19, the BRT branch of the Road Transport and Highways Division at the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges informed the relevant offices by letter.
To make use of the Tk 28.11 billion already spent, the government has decided to rework the existing structures and turn the road into an ordinary six-lane highway.
The project has become a source of constant misery for hundreds of thousands of commuters travelling through Gazipur, leaving residents of the district and northern Bangladesh facing daily traffic disruption and higher fares.
Construction stalled for long stretches because of violence before and after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in the 2024 student-led mass uprising, and workers of contractors and subcontractors on parts of the project did not return.
On a visit this month, locals told bdnews24.com that work on the project’s footbridges has been at a standstill for a long time, and that parts of the escalators fitted there are damaged and being “stolen”.
The then interim government repeatedly raised design flaws in the project at meetings of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) but never settled what to do.
The BNP government, in power after 19 years, monitored progress repeatedly but finally chose to scrap the project and run the corridor differently.
The government also plans to widen two two-lane overpasses of the project to four lanes.
The letter, signed by Deputy Secretary Taslima Ahmed Poly, went to the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority, the Roads and Highways Department and Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit PLC.
bdnews24.com tried to reach Taslima to ask whether estimates had been made of the depreciation the existing project would suffer under the new decision, the fresh money needed to carry it out and the allocation required to demolish the overpasses.
It also contacted Road Transport Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam and Road Transport and Highways Division Secretary Mohammad Ziaul Haque to ask what was discussed at the cabinet meeting.
Repeated attempts on Tuesday and Wednesday brought no response from them.
Roads and Highways Department Chief Engineer Md Moniruzzaman also did not respond to attempts to reach him on Wednesday.
The letter, citing the cabinet decision, says the cabinet approved option four in the summary.
Under it, the stations, lane dividers and other structures will be removed. The project must be formally closed after talks with development partners and the resolution of legal complications.
Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit PLC will be shut down and its operations moved under the Roads and Highways Department. The offices have been told to act urgently to carry out the cabinet decision.
They have been asked to send a progress report to the division within 15 days, and, until the work is finished, a report by the 3rd of every month.
On Jun 14, Tarique held a meeting on the progress of the BRT project.
His Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Shiplu said the meeting took place that day at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Cabinet Division at the Secretariat.
“The meeting discussed in detail the progress of the BRT project, the implementation process and the potential benefits under the chairmanship of the prime minister,” he said.
“Experts at the meeting offered opinions and recommendations on different aspects of the project. They presented their observations in particular on the BRT’s design, station management, passenger service, operating structure and overall effectiveness.”
The then Awami League government took up the project in December 2012 to introduce a “fast, safe and environment-friendly” transport system on a dedicated lane from Shahjalal International Airport to Gazipur.
The four-year project was due to finish in December 2024. But its deadline for the 20.5km road has been extended five times so far.
Against this background, proposals for several options were sought to make the project beneficial.
Several ministry officials said four options were under discussion: scrapping the project, finishing the unfinished work and launching buses, running special and private buses on the BRT lane as it stands, and operating the corridor as a toll road.
The government ultimately scrapped the project, with the bus procurement tender having failed as well.
Another BRT route from Uttara to Keraniganj, financed by the World Bank, had also been planned, but it was scrapped as well because the Gazipur section did not open on time.
Limited movement began on the corridor on Dec 15, 2024, without full facilities. The BRT lane is now open to all vehicles.
In October 2025, the then interim government decided not to launch BRT services because of the extra time and cost.
In May this year, experts from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) cited design flaws and operational complications and recommended scrapping the BRT and opening it to all vehicles.