The government has decided to remove infrastructure built for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project between Gazipur and Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at a cost of about BDT 30 billion and turn the route into a six-lane highway.

Twenty-five stations and the lane dividers along the corridor will be removed. Two two-lane flyovers will be upgraded to four lanes. The Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit PLC, the company responsible for implementing the project, will also be wound up, with its operations transferred to the Roads and Highways Department (RHD).

The decisions were taken at the cabinet’s latest meeting held last Sunday to determine the project’s future. On Monday, the Road Transport and Highways Division instructed the relevant departments to take the necessary measures.

The RHD has proposed spending BDT 450 million to remove the infrastructure and a further BDT 270 million to widen the road. The agency said materials recovered from demolishing the stations could be sold for BDT 70 million, although the stations had cost BDT 990 million to build.

The BRT project was launched to speed up public transport. The plan was for special buses to run in dedicated lanes from Dhaka airport to Gazipur, cutting journey time and increasing road capacity. But the bus service could not be launched even after 14 years. Instead, protracted construction delays increased congestion, hardship and transport costs on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway. The project, which began with an estimated cost of BDT 20.39 billion, saw its cost rise several times to BDT 42.68 billion. About BDT 28.11 billion has been spent, but the project’s main objective has not been achieved. The government has now decided to remove the BRT infrastructure and turn the road into a six-lane highway.

Under the new plan, the BRT stations and lane dividers built in the middle of the road will be removed to create three lanes on each side, six in total. The BRT lanes on the two two-lane flyovers built under the project will also be removed, allowing them to be opened to traffic as four-lane roads. The Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit company, set up to run the service, will be wound up, with responsibility transferred to the RHD.

RHD chief engineer Md Moniruzzaman said work was underway on road safety and infrastructure in line with instructions from the highest levels of government. “Our ministry has prepared the necessary guidance in line with the decisions and instructions already issued by the cabinet,” he told Bonik Barta. “We are following the cabinet’s and ministry’s instructions to the letter, and will continue to act accordingly.”

A team of experts from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) had earlier reviewed the project’s technical aspects. Formed on the instructions of the former interim government, the team was led by Dr Shamsul Hoque, a professor in the university’s civil engineering department. It submitted its report to the road transport ministry in October 2025 after reviewing the project’s operational and technical aspects.

The team recommended scrapping the BRT project entirely and using the existing infrastructure as an upgraded highway.

Hoque told Bonik Barta: “Of the possible solutions for the BRT project, scrapping it is the most reasonable. However, given the hardship endured over 14 years by people travelling on this route, including those in Gazipur, alternative public transport needs to be arranged for them.”

He added: “Even if the BRT service had been launched, passengers from Gazipur would have had to change to another bus at the airport, limiting the benefits for those making the full journey. Scrapping the project and upgrading the road to a high-speed highway would improve access to Gazipur’s industrial belt. The possibility of running commuter trains from Gazipur to Kamalapur could also be considered, as construction of the third and fourth railway lines along the route is nearing completion.”

The BRT project was approved in November 2012 for the roughly 20.5-kilometre route from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Shibbari in Gazipur. Construction was meant to finish by 2016, with passenger services starting in 2017. The plan was to carry about 25,000 passengers a day. But land acquisition, design changes, the relocation of underground gas and electricity lines, drainage problems and poor coordination among agencies repeatedly disrupted the work. The deadline was extended five times, yet the project remained incomplete. The last approved deadline was December 31, 2024.

After three revisions, the project’s approved cost rose to BDT 42.68 billion, an increase of more than BDT 22.28 billion, or about 109 percent, over the original estimate. According to RHD data, cumulative spending up to the 2025–26 fiscal year was about BDT 28.11 billion. Nearly 66 percent of the approved budget had been spent, yet the BRT service never began carrying passengers. In 2025, a proposal to raise the cost to about BDT 65.98 billion and extend the deadline to December 2029 was submitted but not approved.

Construction had the greatest impact in the airport, Uttara, Tongi, Abdullahpur and Gazipur areas. Building materials, dividers and unfinished infrastructure in the middle of the road reduced the space available for traffic. Commuters and goods transport operators alike faced longer journeys and higher transport costs.

The Dhaka-Gazipur highway is a vital link between the capital and greater Mymensingh, northern Bangladesh and Tangail. It is also important for supplying raw materials to Gazipur’s industrial belt and transporting goods, including ready-made garments.

One of the project’s main failures was its inability to procure the special buses it required. The initial plan to operate long buses with automatic doors was never implemented. A later attempt to buy electric buses also failed. In April 2024, a tender was invited for 137 air-conditioned diesel buses, but none were ultimately procured.

The station designs also did not match the position of bus doors. Most buses in Bangladesh have doors on the left, but the BRT stations were designed for buses with doors on the right. Even if the special buses had been introduced, this mismatch could have complicated connections with existing public transport.

Experts disagree over the decision to scrap the project. Prof Musleh Uddin Hasan of BUET’s department of urban and regional planning told Bonik Barta: “Despite the flaws and failures, the financial losses and future potential should have been assessed impartially before the project was scrapped.” He said the project’s planning and implementation had been questioned from the outset.