MVA's consultancy on Lahore Southern Bus Terminal

MVA was hired by some private company (I think it must be the Daewoo Express Bus Service) to conduct a feasibility for the construction of Lahore Southern Bus Terminal....

MVA Asia Document About LRMTS

MVA has published the following details about LRMTS project. I hope this wonderful project would be implemented..............

Daewoo Launches Peshawar-Karachi Bus Service

PESHAWAR (February 14 2009): Sammi Daewoo Express Bus Service Friday launched Peshawar-Karachi bus service to meet the growing demand of passengers travelling on the long route from this province. Daily three buses will ply on the route.

Transport Secretary to the government of NWFP Zaffar Iqbal inaugurated the service while Secretary Regional Transport Authority (RTA) Syed Ahmad Naseem offered Dua before the first bus departed from Peshawar for Karachi.Three comfortable buses of the Daewoo bus service will be operated on Peshawar-Karachi route.

The journey will take 25 hours. Talking to the media on the occasion of launching ceremony, Country Operational Incharge, Daewoo Service, Ajab Gul said that the decision had been taken on the growing demand of the passengers travelling between Karachi and Peshawar.About the route, he said, the buses will run from Peshawar to Karachi via motorway, Jhang, Multan, Bahawalpur, Sukkar, Moro and Hyderabad.

To a question, he said that the Indus Highway was not secure, and they could not take the risk of plying their buses on unsafe routes as the passengers trusted the Daewoo service. Daewoo provides full security to them and this was the reason that it was decided to run buses on the prescribed routes."Though it will take more time but it will be secure as compared to the journey on Indus Highway," he maintained.

The Sammi Daewoo, he said always tried to make sure that the passengers travel in complete comfort, adding that it was also providing quality food and entertainment facilities to its travellers. Terminal Manager, Mohammad Khattak said that Sammi Daewoo service would keep on introducing new services on new routes so that more and more people could benefit from its comfortable and secure travelling service.

Automatic Information System to be Installed at Railway Stations

ISLAMABAD (February 12 2009): To modernise the railway information system and to make it more effective, Pakistan Railways has entered into an agreement with United Technical Network Technology (UNTNT) and Mobilink to install automatic information system at the railways stations.

Pakistan Railways, UNTNT and Mobilink have inked an agreement under which the UNTNT and Mobilink will install electronic boards at platforms and main waiting rooms of the railways stations across the country, sources in the Ministry of Railways told Business Recorder here on Wednesday.

They said that on these electronic boards' tickers about the arrival and departure of the trains would be shown for the public convenience. Sources added that Pakistan Railways, in collaboration with the UTNT, a Canada-based firm, has already installed computerised boards at 30 railways stations, including Peshawar, Nowshehra, Rawalpindi, Jehlum, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Gujjar Khan, Lahore, Sukkur, Hyderabad and Karachi.

They further said that for further action, a high level meeting had been called on February 14, which would be participated by all divisional officers of signals and other senior official, including Mobilink and UNTNT.They said that the formal inauguration of the electronic system is likely to be held in March. They said that maintenance of trains' timing was an uphill task for the railway authorities, as passengers had to reach their destinations in time once in a blue moon.

The system would upgrade the standard of customers' amenities in the similar passions as that of the developed countries, they added. "Coupled with online train system, the railways management will be in a position to control trains operation more punctually," said the sources. They further said that the ticketing mechanism was yet to be computerised to make it more beneficial for the general public," they said.

The government wanted to make the railways a competitive institution in the region, as with the functioning of Gwadar port, most cargo handling will be done through railways, the sources added.

Third Asia-Europe Land-Bridge to Bring Prosperity in Pakistan: Expert

KUNMING (February 11 2009): The proposed South West Corridor of the 3rd Asia-Europe continental land-bridge when completed will bring economic prosperity in Pakistan as well as countries under its umbrella in South Asia, Europe and Africa, said a senior Chinese research scholar in a media briefing.

The strategic passageway, a brain child of experts of Yunnan Province of China that has got the nod from many experts and government officials to launch the project will pass through three cities of Pakistan namely Lahore, Sukkur and Quetta, said President and Research Fellow of Yunnan Academy of Economics Duan Gang while giving briefing on this all time important corridor of land bridge to domestic and foreign media on Tuesday.

The briefing was arranged on the sidelines of the weeklong plenary session of the 11th People's Congress of Standing Committee of Yunnan Province. The session was kicked off on February 7 with the address of Provincial Governor Qin Guangrong in which he presented 2008 annual report and his government plan for 2009. It was for the first time that the foreign media had been invited to cover the provincial session of the People's Congress.When completed, it will not only bring economic prosperity for the people of Pakistan, but will also be a source of integration for various nationalities as well as their cultures with each other, he noted.

He said the project would also play a key role to narrow the gap of trade imbalance between China and Pakistan. Gang pointed out that the Corridor would pass through 17 countries of Asia, Europe and Africa.Last, year, Gang said that second of the three stages sets for the project was completed with holding of an international scientific seminar that was attended by a dozen of foreign experts including those from Pakistan in Beijing in November 2008 in which Pakistani delegation also appreciated the initiative.

No doubt the project is practicable, a determined Gang said while emphasising that only in patches, the railway tracks are to be laid by the concerned countries.For example, in Pakistan, the track from Lahore to Balochistan is already operational, he noted. On our part, Gang said that China has completed the construction of railway track from Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan province, while work from Dali to Ruili is being completed on fast track. Set 2015, as target set for accomplishment, experts believe that the south-west corridor was the most important part of the Asia-Europe Continental land-bridge.

The south-west part of the proposed 15000-km-long corridor will start from Kunming, capital of south-western China's Yunnan Province, go southwards to Dali, Ruili and end up at Myanmar's port city Kyaukpyu where it connects with the Bangladesh railways that was already in operation.The corridor would greatly improve communications and co-operation in the intra-Asian region as well as between Asia and the rest of the world, he observed.

Highlighting the importance of the project in present economic world meltdown, Gang said that the global economy is faced by multiple challenges.

Japanese Team Completes KCR Feasibility Report

KARACHI (February 11 2009): The Japanese survey team has concluded its feasibility report of the $872.316 million project for revival of Karachi Circular Railway, paving the way for grant of loan by Japan in May 2009.

Another Japanese survey team, which was busy with making further study about the project aimed to mitigate traffic problems in the metropolis, sources told Business Recorder on Tuesday.The 10-member Japanese team, they said, would come back to Pakistan again in March this year, and the governments of Pakistan and Japan are likely to sign the loan agreement in May 2009.

After the release of funds, the project is to be completed in three to four years.According to the agreement with Pakistan, Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro), commissioned by the ministry of economy, trade and industry, Government of Japan, would provide 100 percent funding for the project under Japanese STEP loan at 0.2 percent mark-up rate for a 40-year payback time, including a 10-year grace period.

Currently, the project had been undergoing different assessment studies, like Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Special Assistance for Project Formation (Saprof), etc, led by a group of Jetro, which were likely to be completed in the current month, said the sources.They said that Karachi was facing tremendous growth in traffic at 7.2 percent annually, beside its disproportionate yearly growth of buses of 17 percent causing congestion and accidents, increasing in travelling time.

Therefore, railway-based transport system was the need of the hour. They said the railway based mass transit system was only the solution to cater the public demand in the over populated metropolis.

However, they said that for completion of the project in time, government's attention and seriousness were needed to get the mega project on fast track by requesting the Japanese government for the immediate release of funds it sanctioned for the project

Chinese Firm to Build Makkah Monorail Project

RIYADH, Feb 11: Saudi Arabia has awarded a $1.8 billion monorail project to carry pilgrims around the holy city of Makkah to the state-owned China Railway Co Ltd, formerly known as China Railway Engineering Group Co.

The award was announced at the state dinner on Tuesday evening hosted by Saudi King Abdullah for President Hu Jintao, who arrived here on Tuesday on a three-day visit.The rail project will link Makkah with Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah, which are visited by pilgrims during Haj.

The agreement was signed by Prince Miteb, the Saudi Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, and China Railway Company in the presence of King Abdullah and President Hu.