London to Dhaka Rail Link Via Lahore Likely Next Year

LONDON (April 21 2008): Rail enthusiasts looking for adventure will be able to travel by train from London to Dhaka when a new link opens later this year. The 7,000-mile Trans-Asia railway will follow one of the old Silk Roads through Istanbul, Tehran, Lahore and Delhi and the whole journey will take 23 days to complete, reports The Sunday Times.

It is already being described by train buffs as 'the world's greatest railway journey' and will be longer than the Trans-Siberian railway, which spans 5,772 miles, the paper added.Under a UN-sponsored scheme, Pakistan and Iran will link up their lines in the coming months to join the sub-continent's track to that of Europe for the first time.The UN said the link would open up new trade routes within Asia and give the former Soviet republics of central Asia rail access to Iran's strategic seaport at Bandar Abbas in the Gulf.

The route was extended when the Kolkata to Dhaka line reopened earlier this month, more than 40 years after it was blocked during the Indo-Pak war of 1965.The paper said last week, senior Indian officials met their Iranian counterparts in Tehran to discuss progress. It said that India has already earmarked 90 million pounds to extend its vast rail network towards its border with Burma.

From there just 218 miles of missing track stands in the way of an overland rail journey from London to Singapore.An intrepid traveller will soon be able to leave London for Brussels, Cologne, Vienna, Bucharest, Istanbul, Tehran, Quetta, Lahore, Amritsar, Delhi and Kolkata before reaching the end of the line in Dhaka.

Work on New Road Project in Lahore

LAHORE (April 17 2008): Construction work of a new road connecting Lahore General Hospital with Jinnah Hospital has started, the Nazim, City District Government Lahore (CDGL), Mian Amir Mahmood has said on Wednesday. Talking to a delegation of Nazims he said that the Rs 840million road project would be completed in one year.The new road would pass through Chungi Amer Sadhu and Peaco Road and relax the traffic pressure on the Ferozepur Road after its completion, he added.

"Traffic heading towards Thokar Niaz Baig and Motorway would have an alternate route due to this new road," Nazim said.Mahmood informed the delegation that in the first phase, Mulana Shaukat Ali Road between Junnah Hospital and Model Town Link Road would be widened and a service lane would also be added on this route.

"The 5.75-km-long road would be 30-feet wide on both sides and flanked by 18-feet service lane. This would also have footpaths and proper rainwater drainage system," he added. In the second phase, an underpass would be constructed near the Peaco Factory, under the railway track to link Mulana Shaukat Ali Road with Katcha Link Jail Road.Additionally, in the third phase, Katcha Link Jail Road between Peaco Factory and Chungi Amar Sadhu (Ferozepur Road) would be widened and reconstructed.

"The new road would not only smooth the traffic flow on Mulana Shaukat Ali Road, but also provide an alternate route between Thokar to Chungi Amar Sadhu," Mahmood stated.

Suleman Ghani made LMTA Chief

LAHORE: The Punjab government has transferred Planning and Development Chairman Suleman Ghani and posted him as the Head of the Lahore Mass Transit Authority (LMTA) whereas Sami Saeed has been appointed new Planning and Development chairman, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General Public Relations.

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Good News Indeed as Mr. Ghani has been in this project for Last Three Years and being particularly in this Project, we hope for its implementation.

New Public Transport System For Rawalpindi in 2 months’

RAWALPINDI: The city residents will have better transport facilities within next two months, as the Punjab Government has authorised the district government to introduce a private public transport system in accordance with people’s need, said District Nazim Raja Javed Ikhlas in a press statement.

He said a Chinese company, besides others, was willing to ply 100 buses at different routes of Rawalpindi. The nazim said a committee had been constituted that was working and would inspect the buses of Varan Tours and other companies within few days. The district government wants to run the buses fired by compressed natural gas (CNG), he said.The committee, he said, would review the condition of buses to know if those were competent enough to provide comfortable transport facilities to passengers.

He said protection would be accorded to company that would get franchise routes, while decision in this respect would be taken on merit. online

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Lets hope that all other Mega Cities in Pakistan may also get the similar thinking.........

Islamabad Expressway Work Begins

ISLAMABAD: Capital Development Authority (CDA) has started construction work on the project to convert Islamabad Highway into an expressway by constructing 11 underpasses and interchanges to ease the traffic flow, a CDA official said on Wednesday.He said the authority would construct a concrete road from Faizabad to Rawat to avoid rutting on the main highway that sometimes caused road accidents and hampered traffic flow.



“The Rs 1,676.919 million project includes seven underpasses and four interchanges on the highway from Faizabad Interchange to Rawat. These interchanges and underpasses are in addition to Zero Point Interchange whose design is under scrutiny by a consultant,” he said.The official said Islamabad Highway would be made signal-free and the project would take around a year for completion.

The designing of interchanges and underpasses is in final stage and work on them will be started following their approval by the CDA Board, he said.The official said the underpasses would be set up at Sector I-8 traffic signal, Kurri Road, near PWD Housing Scheme, Soan Garden Scheme, Japan Road and Defence Housing Authority, while interchanges at Rawat, Karal Chowk and Soan and Khanna bridges.

The CDA, he said, had designed a plan to divert traffic to other roads during the execution of project to ward off the traffic mess.He said Islamabad Highway plan included its expansion by one lane each of 12 feet on both sides. These lanes would be rigid lanes meant for flow of heavy traffic and separation of heavy and light traffic. app

CDGK Plans to Introduce 500 CNG Buses

KARACHI: The City District Government Karachi (CDGK) has initiated a project to introduce CNG buses by July. The Karachi Mass Transit Cell (KMTC) has called local and foreign firms to be a part of the effort, Daily Times learnt on Sunday.

The CNG bus project is backed by the federal government and gives a high mark-up to investors, after a total investment of Rs 4 billion.City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal, during the last two years, promised numerous times that 5,000 CNG buses will be introduced to Karachi roads, but due to a lack of interest from the private sector, the project never took off. A number of terrorism-related incidents in the city last year disrupted law and order and dented investor confidence. But now the project has picked up and aims to introduce environment-friendly public transport. The number of buses has gone down from 5,000 to 2,500.

In its initial phase, to start from July, the city government aims to import the first fleet of 500 CNG buses, while the remaining 2,000 will be introduced in the next five years. The Mass Transit Cell has identified 40 routes where the first consignment of 500 CNG buses would operate. The routes, which have been given to separate parties, are being called the “green routes.” They cover the whole city, from Gulshan-e-Maymar at Super Highway to Hawkesbay Scheme on Hub River Road in Gadap Town, Officials in the city government said that invitation from private firms, local or foreign, with experience in the supplying/manufacturing and operating industry will be finalized by the end of June and signed in the first week of July.

The KMTC has also prepared a preliminary report on the current condition of the city’s transport system, mentioning that the city of 16 million people and 1.7 million registered vehicles. “About 90 percent of the workforce uses different modes of public transport, which includes 12,000 vehicles on 254 routes with a considerable overlap,” said the report.

The report also mentioned that most of the buses consist of an ageing fleet in which only 17 percent of the vehicles (3,118) are less than four years old, while 41.7 percent (7,652) are between 5 to 15 years old, 22.5 percent (4,129) between 15 to 24 years old, 18.6 percent (3,417) between 25 to 45 years old and 0.2 percent (34) are between 45 to 65 years old. All these buses contribute considerably to air pollution as well.

ADB can Provide Assistance for Power & Mass Transit Projects in Pakistan

April 03, 2008 KARACHI: The Asian Development Bank can extend assistance to the country for electricity, transmission and distribution projects if Pakistan asked for the help in this regard.“Pakistan in the past used to rely more on wind mill for electricity generation but now it mostly produces power through thermal means,” said ADB country director Peter Fedon while addressing a seminar here at Pakistan Institute for International Affairs on Thursday.

He said the ADB provided loan to Pakistan in 2006 with which projects of wind mill are being established in the country.A lot of opportunities exist in northern areas for setting up small, medium and large wind mill projects and ADB is working towards brining them on ground, he pointed out.Peter Fedon said ADB can extend financial assistance amounting to 800 million dollars to the new government of Pakistan.

Peter Fedon said that out of this $800 million assistance majority of the funds are allocated for Karachi and Lahore Mass Transit System whose feasibilities are almost completed and just go - ahead required fomt the Provincial governments.

Islamabad - Rawalpindi Mass Transit System to Tide Over Gridlock Urged

ISLAMABAD (April 03 2008): One hopes that new democratic government having a better understanding of grassroots level problems will give practical shape by introducing mass transit system in Islamabad-Rawalpindi to overcome all traffic problems once for all.

The government should give high priority to developing mass transit transport system as continuous increase in urbanisation and vehicular traffic are resulting in serious traffic congestion in the twin cities. Although, one appreciates efforts by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to improve the existing infrastructure by expanding roads, building underpasses, overhead bridges, service lanes, cross junctions to streamline and overcome traffic congestion yet it is not a permanent solution to the problem keeping in view the growing population and fast registration of vehicles due to leasing policy of banks.

Islamabad with a population of about one million is growing at an average of about six percent per annum, while Rawalpindi with a population of about 2.5 million has a growth rate of about 3.4 percent per year.An estimated 200 vehicles are being registered daily with the Islamabad Excise and Taxation Office and more than 150,000 vehicles plying on the city roads.

It may be recalled that previous government approved the revival of National Mass Transit Authority under the Ministry of Railways to promote, plan, develop and regulate Urban Mass Transit System for development of mass transit systems for eight cities.Objective of Islamabad-Rawalpindi Mass Transit system is to provide safe, secure, comfortable, reliable, affordable and environmentally acceptable mode of transportation to the people of the twin cities. Besides the CDA and the Rawalpindi district government has yet to materialise its promise of introducing environment-friendly public transport (CNG buses) service.