Operations on Dhaka’s mass rapid transit system were briefly disrupted on Saturday, 13 June, after a stray cat wandered onto the railway tracks of MRT Line-6. For precautionary and safety reasons, transit authorities halted all train movements for a duration of ten minutes while an emergency rescue operation was carried out to clear the line.

According to authoritative sources within the management team of MRT Line-6, the animal was first spotted at approximately 11:50 am. The cat had breached the secure perimeter and entered the active track zone running alongside the passenger platform at Shahbagh Metrorail Station.

Protocol Activation and Fire Service Rescue

As soon as the station staff identified the potential safety hazard on the tracks, they immediately activated standard emergency protocols. Train operations along the affected section of MRT Line-6 were suspended to eliminate any risk of collision or damage to the electrical track infrastructure.

To resolve the situation safely, transit officials requested assistance from external emergency services. First responders from the Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence arrived at the station shortly after receiving the alert. The firefighters carefully accessed the platform tracks and successfully retrieved the cat. Following a comprehensive inspection of the line to confirm that all safety and operational parameters were fully restored, train services were permitted to resume at 12:00 pm.

Corporate Silence on Transit Delay

The operational halt lasted exactly ten minutes, causing minor scheduling backlogs across the urban rail network. Despite the disruption to daily commuters at Shahbagh Station, the public relations division of the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL)—the state-run entity that oversees the construction and daily operation of the metrorail network—has declined to issue a formal statement or commentary regarding the incident.

Operational Disruption Matrix