The Bangladeshi capital is among the world’s most densely populated and suffers badly from traffic congestion. The University of Technology has calculated that business in the giant city loses the equivalent of SEK 30 billion a year in lost working time caused by traffic jams.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the metro on Wednesday in the company of Japanese dignitaries, calling the metro “another feather in the people’s proud crown”. She has also inaugurated over a hundred bridges in recent months, many built with the help of China or Japan.