Dhaka, Oct 9 (IANS): The metro rail project here has gathered momentum after a three-year delay over a change of route, a media report said Tuesday.

Daily Star reported that the government has decided to appoint a consultant to prepare a detailed design of the metro rail from Uttara third phase to Motijheel.

Several international companies have been short-listed for the job and they are now waiting for approval from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the lone donor of the $2.7 billion project.

Officials said the short-listed companies would soon be asked to submit their technical and financial proposals for the job of preparing the detailed design and supervising the construction.

The communications ministry has set a new target for starting the construction work in 2016 and completing it by December 2019. The earlier plan was that the construction work would begin in 2013 and end in three years.

The delay has increased the project cost from $1.7 billion to $2.7 billion.