Inter-city Buses: Operators asked to Shift Terminals to New Locations

The city district government has proposed a plan asking intercity bus operators have been asked to shift their terminals to new locations in 18 months, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Bus companies, it seems, will require a lot of convincing before they agree to do so.

The government had hoped to organise an auction for licences for new terminals last Thursday but it had to be rescheduled.

Regional Transport Authority Secretary Mian Mohsin Rashid said he did not know why the auction had been postponed.

However, he is hopeful that early resistance will give way ultimately to an agreement. Rashid said that the RTA proposal allows the  companies to establish their terminals in areas of their preference.

The city government has already asked operators using one of the city’s main bus stands at Lorry Adda to move to Thokar Niaz Beg. A 109-kanal terminal has been completed at Thokar Niaz Beg but the transporters have refused to relocate.

City government officials, privy to developments, told The Express Tribune that the government had offered Daewoo the terminal at Thokar Niaz Beg to use till the company constructs a new terminal.

District Coordinating Officer Noorul Amin Mengal confirmed that Daewoo had been offered the Thokar terminal. Daewoo’s general manager said the company was considering the government offer but hadn’t made a decision yet.

Under the new plan, the government has proposed 88 bus terminals in the city. These terminals would be located in three zones along 12 interchanges on the Lahore Ring Road.

The Green Zone will include areas in the heart of the city – except for The Mall and the Walled City, the Blue Zone is situated on the inner side of the Ring Road interchanges and extend two kilometres towards city centre and the Yellow Zone, which is on the outer side of the Ring Road till the revenue limits of the city.

Only four bus terminals, of at least 50 kanals each, will be allowed to be established in the Green Zone. In the Blue Zone, two bus terminals of at least 10 kanals each will be allowed at each interchange. Five terminals, of six kanals each, would be allowed alongside every Ring Road interchange in the Yellow Zone.

The interested companies will submit applications, expressing their interest in setting up terminals.

The government will then hold an auction for the licences. Once a company wins a licence, it would be given 10 months to locate and purchase or lease the land where it wishes to construct the new terminal.

After building plans and NOCs are obtained, the companies will be given adequate time, which varies depending on the zone, to complete construction and shift operations.

Companies setting up new terminals in the Green Zone would be given 10 months, companies that wish to set up a terminal in the Blue Zone eight months and those in the Yellow Zone six months.

Rashid said that around 20 companies, including Daewoo, had expressed interest in the auction, the date for which is yet to be decided.

Daewoo General Manager (Administration) Khurram Mirza said that the company was willing to give the new proposal a shot “despite the difficulties it will pose to the company’s operations”.

He confirmed that the company would be taking part in the auction and that it has applied for a licence each in the Blue Zone and the Green Zone.

Aslam Khan Niazi, the All Pakistan Transport Owner Federation chairman, opposed the policy. He said companies like Abdullah Travellers, Naizi and Skyways owned land on which they have their terminals and did not want to participate in a licence auction.

Trial run: Metro buses to start training run soon

The training run of the Metro Bus Service (MBS) drivers on the Gajju Matta to Kalma Chowk section of the MBS route is likely to start soon.

Six driver trainers from the Turkish company Platform have arrived in Pakistan and have been scheduled to start trainING MBS drivers within 10 days.

A Metro Bus Service Authority (MBSA) official Uzair Shah said Traffic Engineering and Planning Authority (TEPA) will provide a u-turn on Kalma Chowk within 10-days to start training the MBS drivers. He said the training would be conducted by the firms, Platform and Volvo. The drivers would be taught how to drive the buses, how to dock at a platform and how to maintain speed and distance, Shah added.

“Six driver trainers have arrived in Pakistan to train newly-recruited drivers on the MBS route,” a senior Turkish official in Platform said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

He said some drivers for MBS had been hired while others were in the process for hiring.

The official said he expected the training to start in around ten days. He added that the plan was to run five to six buses during the training phase.

“The forty-five buses that reached Karachi will be transported to Lahore in the next 10 days,” he said.

Kalma Chowk project director Khalid Alvi said that they had been given a deadline by the MBS project director to clear the MBS route till December 20. He said they would be able to clear it, if not by December 20, then in around 24 hours or so after the deadline ends. He said the MBS buses would turn before the Kalma Chowk underpass area.

However, another MBSA official speaking on anonymity said neither of the under-construction Model Town Morr nor Kalma Chowk will be ready for any such training to start in the next 10-days. He said the training programme would hopefully start within four weeks.

He said the government was giving too short a deadline to begin the training-run for the buses. “It would be almost impossible to meet the December 20 deadline,” he said.

A TEPA official speaking on condition of anonymity said Kalma Chowk was the only bottleneck preventing buses travelling from Gajju Matta. He said all 10 bus stations were almost complete and the escalators were almost built too.

The official said the Kalma Chowk construction would take another 20 days.

No asphalt had been laid on the intersections as yet, he added.

Kalma Chowk closed for traffic

Dec 18: The quarters concerned of the Punjab government closed Kalma Chowk for traffic on Tuesday night to start construction of two underpasses and Metro Bus pathway.

As around 1.5 million vehicles use this intersection daily, motorists who are already in trouble these days because of ongoing construction of the Metro Bus System project will have to suffer for the next 20-days (Dec 19 to Jan 9) because of construction work at this intersection.

Though the City Traffic Police and TEPA have issued a traffic diversion plan, the decision will result in traffic congestion on Canal Road, Gulberg’s Main Boulevard, Qaddafi Stadium Road, Zahoor Elahi Road, The Mall and Jail Road.

“No traffic will enter this major intersection from Dec 19 to Jan 9 because of construction of the underpasses and a small stretch of the dedicated corridor for the Metro Bus,” MPA Dr Saeed Elahi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz said at a press conference at the Kalma Chowk construction site on Tuesday afternoon.

Flanked by Lahore Commissioner Jawad Rafique Malik, Chief Traffic Officer Sohail Chaudhry and Project Directors Khalid Alvi
and Sabir Khan Sidozai, Elahi said the intersection was closed to complete the seven-lane dual underpass project till Jan 31.

Elahi said the project would cost the government Rs1.75 billion. He dispelled the impression that the Metro Bus project would cost the government Rs70 to 80 billion and said that actual cost of the project was Rs29.80 billion. He said the Metro Bus track from Gajjumata to Kalma Chowk was likely to be opened on Dec 25.

Commissioner Malik said that Rs558 million had been paid to people whose land was acquired for the road project. “We are going to set up a one-window cell at Town Hall to dispose of remaining cases of compensation,” he said.

Urban development: LDA approves Rs3b project for signal-free Qurtaba Chowk

The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has approved the construction of a signal-free junction at Qurtaba Chowk, Mozang, at a cost of Rs3 billion in view of the increasing number of traffic jams there, according to a press release issued after a meeting of the LDA governing body here on Thursday.

The project will start once construction of the Metro Bus Service is complete, said the LDA statement.

The LDA also approved of the dualisation or expansion of the road along Cantonment Drain from the LOS stop on Ferozepur Road to Multan Road, known locally as Nalay Wali Sarak, and the construction of missing links, at a cost of Rs524 million.

A project for the installation of LED lights on 15 major roads at a cost of Rs339 million was also approved.

The LDA officials concerned were not available to give the details for these projects.

45 Buses for MBS to arrive soon

Two ships carrying 45 articulated buses for the Metro Bus Service (MBS) route are likely to arrive from China at the Karachi seaport in a few days, officials related to the development told Dawn on Monday.

The buses will ply on a 27 kilomtere corridor being constructed from Gajjumatta to Shahdara.

According to officials, buses have been dispatched by the manufacturing company, Volvo China, to Pakistan. The fleet costs over Rs1.260 billion whereas each bus is Rs28 million. As soon as the ships dock at Karachi seaport, a technical team of the Punjab government would go there to deal with unloading, and custom clearance issues.

The fleet will be transported to Lahore from the port through trawlers, Lahore Development Authority Director General Ahad Cheema told Dawn. Each bus is 18 metre long and is right hand drive.

“Every bus has 50 to 60 seats with separate compartments for women and men, and can accommodate 150 passengers in all at a time,” he said.

The metro route will have 27 stations, of that 18 are near completion. The work on the remaining nine stations was being carried out on a fast track and would be completed in a fortnight, he said.

The corridor includes an 8km overhead bridge from Muslim Town Mor to Texali. Mr Cheema said some of the overhead’s portions were still under various phases such as piling, shuttering and concrete and earth filling, adding that the bridge would be completed by mid December.

Mr Cheema said though there was no deadline to launch buses on the MBS, the LDA would be able to know about the tentative dates in the next 15 days.

He said the ongoing construction of Kalma Chowk underpass would not cause a delay in the MBS completion.

“Actually the underpass is not a part of the MBS, and the construction of the route is going on at this particular portion,” he said.

The Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency has been tasked with constructing the Kalma Chowk underpass in two months.

More roadworks: Two underpasses at Kalma Chowk approved

The government has approved the building of two underpasses at Kalma Chowk linking Garden Town and Gulberg’s Main Boulevard at a cost of Rs1.125 billion, with construction work due to start in just a few days, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Project Director Mazhar Hussain confirmed that a budget had been approved for the two underpasses, but refused to give any project details. He said the design details for the underpasses would be finalised in a couple of days, at which point he would be able to share them with the press.

Officials in the Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (Tepa) said that according to the approved proposal, the three-lane underpasses would be 5.1 metres high, meaning they could be used by heavy traffic as well, unlike most of the underpasses in the city, which are 3.6 metres high. Given their additional height, they would be longer (about 600 metres) as well as steeper, with a five-degree slope rather than a three-degree slope. They said the underpasses would be built in two months.

The Tepa officials said the longer underpasses might cause some traffic problems. Vehicles entering the underpass from Garden Town towards Gulberg would exit past Centre Point, meaning vehicles heading for Defence via Ali Zeb Road would have to travel towards the Liberty Roundabout and then back, creating further congestion at the already busy junction.

They said that they expected the government to address the design issue so that the underpass could be shortened before construction starts in a few days. “The MBS design was changed several times too. The government will have to reconsider” the length of the underpasses, an official said.

The officials said that once the underpasses were finished, vehicles would no longer be able to take u-turns at Kalma Chowk, or to take right turns when approaching from slip lanes, as the bus corridor beneath and between the flyovers would be sealed off with railing, as along the rest of the Metro Bus Service route. They said that the decision to do so had been made recently.

The abolition of turnings at Kalma Chowk for ground-level traffic due to the sealed-off bus lane would also make life more difficult for vehicles on Ferozepur Road, said the officials. It would mean that rather than take a u-turn or right turn at Kalma Chowk, vehicles would have to travel to the Canal intersection, to the turning at Gulab Devi, to the Liberty Roundabout, or to Garden Town.

“Road users will have to travel an extra kilometre, maybe more, to take u-turns. This will add to the congestion at all remaining turnings,” one official said, adding that he expected the government to reverse the decision.

Chief Traffic Officer Captain Sohail said that they had already made traffic flow plans for potential underpass construction at Kalma Chowk, as well as at Azadi Chowk and Qainchi. He said he wasn’t aware that Kalma Chowk was to be closed for ground-level traffic.

The construction of an underpass for Model Town is currently underway. Officials said that the top slab of the tunnel had been finished, meaning that buses could run overhead on the MBS route. They said that the project would be finished in another 40 days. They said that the top slabs for the Kalma Chowk underpasses would be finished quickly so they didn’t disrupt bus services. They said that they expected work on the MBS not to finish till February, well past the deadline for the project set by the chief minister.

Urban development: Multan Road widening to be finished in February

The expansion of Multan Road between Chauburji and Scheme Mor is to be completed by February, provided sewerage work is finished on time, said the project director.

“We will finish the work by January 31, which is the official deadline,” said Project Director Sabir Khan Sadozai. He said apart from the cost of land acquisition, the project would cost Rs805million.

He said that currently the National Logistics Cell (NLC) was working on a central drain that was in two parts: one section from Yateem Khana to Scheme Mor, and the other from Yateem Khana to near Samanabad Mor. This drain would join with the Cantt drain.

Sadozai said that the Water and Sanitation Agency was laying sewerage lines on both sides of Multan Road. He said that both NLC and Wasa had stated that they would complete their work by the end of November. “After that, we will complete the road construction within eight weeks,” he said.

The Multan Road project has caused major travel headaches for local residents, particularly as work on the Metro Bus Service on Ferozepur Road is also ongoing. Multan Road is used by more than 160,000 vehicles every day, said Sadozai.

Two major intersections on Multan Road – Yateem Khana Chowk and Scheme Mor   are to be widened in the ongoing road project. These chowks will have slip-lanes and signal-free corridors. Sadozai said that the slip lanes would be separated from the main road at some distance from traffic signals so that vehicles going straight don’t clog the lane and block the vehicles turning left. He said that the project would leave the road without traffic problems for at least five years.

Officials connected with the project said that 34 kanals had already been bought on both sides of Yateem Khana Chowk, at a cost of Rs700 million, while 27 kanals would be acquired at Samanabad Mor.

Revenue officials said that the government would need to buy an additional 21 kanals   11 in Nawakot and 10 in the revenue limits of Pakki Tatthi   if it were to build a Metro Bus Service lane on Multan Road. The National Engineering Services of Pakistan (NESPAK) and Turkish company Ulasim have already done a feasibility study for an MBS lane on Multan Road.

The officials said that the acquisition of land, normally a painstaking process resisted by residents, had been surprisingly simple in the Yateem Khana Chowk area. They said that much of the land had been owned by Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam. After they agreed a price, they began demolishing their own buildings. “Once that happened, the rest were easy to convince,” said the officials.

They said that owners of land within 50 feet of the road were paid Rs1 million per marla – Rs0.85 million per marla for the land, and Rs0.15 million per marla for construction cost – while owners of land further away from the road were paid 0.84 million per marla   Rs 0.69 million per marla for land, and Rs0.15 million per marla for construction.

The officials said that the government should have purchased the land required for the MBS on Multan Road, as it would have caused less disruption in the area if it were to do so now rather than later. They said that the government had dropped the idea of buying the land immediately some six weeks ago, “due to political interference”.

Earlier work on Multan Road

The expansion of Multan Road began in October 2009 and the section from Thokar Niaz Beg to Scheme Mor, around 7.3 km, has been rehabilitated. The government allocated Rs2.13 billion for works on this section. Some Rs1.66 billion was allocated for land acquisition and relocation of roadside facilities and Rs308 million for a sewerage line. A 72-inch trunk sewerage line 40-foot deep is also being laid at a cost of Rs1.43 billion. The line would address sewerage problems in Canal View Society, Azam Garden, Mustafa Town and other areas between Chungi and Thokar Niaz Beg.

Alongside the 7.3 km stretch of three-lane road, this section has 3 km of service lanes and 80 green belts have been turned into parking stands. Seven taxi stands have been built. Seven pedestrian bridges have been constructed while one is under construction.

Load management: Road works and special events cause traffic chaos

A combination of major road works and an influx of students for the Punjab Youth Festival and political workers for a Pakistan People’s Party rally resulted in traffic jams across the city on Monday.

For several weeks, large sections of Ferozepur Road, Lower Mall and Ravi Road have been blocked for the construction of the Bus Rapid Transit System, while the expansion of Multan Road is also currently underway, resulting in frequent jams at alternative routes.

On Monday, the traffic situation was even worse as thousands of students were bussed into Gaddafi Stadium for the Youth Festival, while thousands also arrived for a rally in support of newly appointed PPP Punjab President Mian Manzoor Wattoo from the airport to The Mall.

Chief Traffic Officer Captain (retired) Sohail Khan said that the closure of routes for construction work and the two major events in the city had resulted in major traffic problems on Gulberg’s Main Boulevard and Canal Bank Road.

And he warned that things will get worse over the coming days as contractors rush to finish work on the BRTS to meet the chief minister’s deadline of November 20. On Sunday, the chief minister ordered that trucks carrying construction material also travel during the daytime.

Captain (r) Khan said that 22-wheelers escorted by traffic wardens on motorbikes would be moving girders to the BRTS construction site. He said 24 wardens had been assigned to escort the trucks and clear a path for them through traffic. Sections of the road where the girders are being installed would be cordoned off, which would result in additional delays.

He urged commuters not to use the roads unless necessary, especially during rush hour. He also appealed for patience. “Yes there is inconvenience owing to the construction work, but as soon as the project is complete, the people will see its benefits,” he said.

Nov 20 deadline for BRTS Completion

November 20th has been set as deadline for the completion of major infrastructure for the Metro Bus Service, including an eight-kilometre elevated track and a bus depot, though the contractors say it will likely take a few weeks longer.

Once the major work is complete, test runs of the bus service will be conducted for around a month, during which time anyone can ride the buses for free. Officials working on the project said they were hopeful that the first bus would run by December. Forty five articulated buses for the MBS are due to arrive in Karachi from Sweden on November 26, and in Lahore around a week later.

There are seven principal contractors for the MBS – the National Logistics Cell, MAAK sons, Habib Construction Services, ZKB, IKAN and SKB/Albarak (a joint venture by the two companies.

“We are utilising all our resources. Some 5,000 people are working on the MBS right now,” an official at one of the companies said. “They are working at full speed. Even if they continue at this pace, it will be another 15 to 20 days (after Nov 15) before the work is finished.”

Officials said that during his tour of the worksite on Sunday, the chief minister initially proposed a deadline of November 15. The contractors protested, but he only gave them five more days.

The cost of the building the 27.3km MBS, running from Gajju Mata to Shahdara Chowk, mainly along Ferozepur Road, has surged to around Rs31 billion. It includes an eight-km bus-only elevated track from New Muslim Town to Bhati Chowk. Officials said that the project may later be extended in both directions so the bus runs from Kahna to Shahdara Railway Station, a distance of some 32km.

Officials said that some plans for the MBS had been postponed. A bridge for the MBS on over the Ravi had been proposed earlier, but it won’t be built before the service becomes operational. The National Engineering Services of Pakistan (Nespak) is currently making terms of reference for the project.

Officials said there was some concern that the MBS articulated buses would be held up at the Old Ravi Bridge alongside normal traffic. They said that they were considering the possibility of running some MBS buses on shortened routes terminating at Bhati.

Ansar Butt, a deputy director at the Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (Tepa) who is working on the MBS project, said that they were working around the clock to try and meet the chief minister’s deadline. He said that some 1,200 workers were engaged in the 3.5km stretch of the project he was responsible for.

Butt said that non-Muslim staff would continue to work on the project during the Eid holidays, doing small works like compaction and sanitation. The Muslim labourers would get three days off.

He said that a bus depot was being built at Nishter, a u-turn at Hadiara and figure-8 turns at MAO College and Bhati Gate. He said that a depot was to be built at Shahdara, but that idea had been postponed for now. He said that the figue-8 turn at MAO College would be useful if the government went ahead with plans to build MBS routes on Multan Road and Canal Bank Road. He said that a German contractor would soon start installing escalators for some MBS terminals.

Lahore Transport Company General Manager Uzair Shah said that once the contractors finish the major infrastructure, the buses would be sent on test runs and the e-ticketing systems, screen doors at terminals, escalators and generators would be tested. He said that for the first four weeks, anyone could ride the buses for free.

He said that a company had been contracted for cleaning, while another would be contracted for security. He said that a proposal to establish a security staff for the MBS had been dropped.

Shah said that work on the Intelligent Transport System project would begin soon. Monday is the deadline for submission of bids for the project tender. Under the ITS project, the junctions along the route of the MBS would be modernised to include smart traffic lights and surveillance cameras.

Planning and development: Rs3.1 billion funding approved for rapid bus

The Provincial Development Working Party has approved funding for six development schemes for the Punjab, including Rs3,156.632 million for the Metro Bus Service. The money will be spent on building escalators and platform screen doors at bus stops, according to the title of the project.

The PDWP also approved funding of Rs4,459.021 million for the other five projects at its 15th meeting of the fiscal year, presided over by Planning and Development Board Chairman Javaid Aslam.

These schemes include a project for the rehabilitation of the 41.8km Gujranwala-Hafizabad road at a cost of Rs1,772.092 million; the widening and improvement of the 33.07km Qaziabad MM Road to Nawan Kot in Layyah district at a cost of Rs403.399 million; the widening and improvement of the Khushab-Muzaffargarh road (the 83.82km section from the Jhang district boundary to Muzaffargarh) at a cost of Rs2,263.785 million; a feasibility study and design review (PC-II) for the Leh Expressway in Rawalpindi at a cost of Rs14.745 million; and a feasibility study and planning and design review (PC-II) for a waste water treatment plant at Awan Chowk in Gujranwala at a cost of Rs5 million.

Planning and Development Secretary Arif Anwar Baloch also attended the meetin

Metro starts running in Makkah

Bus route to UK planned

MUZAFFARABAD, Sept 27: Authorities in Pakistan are planning to launch a bus route from the Azad Kashmir town of Mirpur to the British city of Birmingham — 8,000 kilometres away.
The mammoth journey would take travellers through some of the most dangerous areas of Pakistan on their way to Iran, Turkey and Europe before reaching the Midlands city after around eight days, officials said.  Tahir Khokhar, the transport minister of Azad Kashmir, said the fare would be around Rs20,000.

Pak Business Express slashes fares to stay on track

In a bid to keep the Pakistan Railways’ first public-private venture afloat, Pak Business Express announced fare cuts on business and budget class coaches for the upcoming off-season.

The six-month old partnership enterprise has been successful in taking much load off the crisis-hit Pakistan Railways (PR). The Rs510 million paid by the business to the state-owned carrier in royalties for using its rail network and other facilities is more than the grand total PR made from all other train combined.

The amount was enough to cover PR’s losses for five of the past six months as the national carrier announced earlier that it incurs a loss of Rs100 million a month.

The joint-venture of Pak Business Express, portrayed by Pakistan Railways authorities as vital for the state owned carrier’s revival, has been battling crises since its inauguration. Although its departures and arrivals are on time, it is becoming tough for the management to continue the venture in its current format. The train achieved 100% occupancy, only a few times and that too was during the peak season of June and July. Presently, the occupancy rate declined to 50% according to the management, which compelled them to slash down fares on return tickets despite skyrocketing fuel costs. The budget class return ticket which previously cost Rs9,000 will now be available for Rs7,000. Similarly, the previous business class fare of Rs10,000 was revised to Rs9,000. However, the prices of one-way tickets will stay the same ie variable between Rs4,500 and Rs5,500.

The private company Four Brothers entered into a deal with the PR and invested Rs225 million to build the project. The privately-run enterprise is bound to pay between Rs1.5 million and Rs2.5 million per day to the Railways, according to the company’s management.

“Pak Business Express has so far spent Rs177.5 million to improve its services for passengers and paid Rs510 million to Pakistan Railways as royalty till date,” said Pak Business Express Project Director Mian Shafqat Ali. If the fixed cost to be paid to railways is calculated since the service’s inauguration, the total amount supposed to be paid to PR from February 3 till present amounted to Rs737.8 million. According to this, Pak Business Express has to still pay the outstanding dues of Rs227.8 million to the PR.

“We are unable to cover the daily fixed costs of Rs3.1 million as the company was facing losses, the amount which we paid daily to the Railways varied between Rs1.5 million and 2.5 million,” said Ijaz Ahmad, CEO of Pak Business Express while talking to The Express Tribune. We revised the fares for the winter season only to attain our maximum occupancy this season, we were also negotiating with the PR’s management to revise the royalty amount and total outstanding dues as we were not in a position to pay the hefty sum, Ahmad said. Nothing had been decided yet as our plea was under discussion with the higher officials of PR, he added.

Talking about the future of the business train, Ahmad said that we will not consider closing down this venture yet; however we were planning to reduce the number of services for the off-season. The current number of coaches in operation was nine including the luggage van in which six economy class seats and 24 berths were also attached. Pak Business Express was also planning to convert the majority of the coaches to economy class coaches, if it is successful the burden will decrease considerably, as only economy coaches achieved 100% occupancy rate, Ahmad said. However, this revised setup of coaches will be for an interim period which will end as soon as summer season begins, he added.

The success of the venture is providing much-needed funds to Pakistan Railways at a time when it is facing a huge financial deficit and many of its trains are waiting to be fixed in the workshops. Thus, the once invincible state-owned national carrier cannot afford to lose the Pak Business Express which pays its bills.

“We do not want this joint-venture to fail, and PR also does not want to lose its profitable enterprise, so we are hopeful that revised proposals will be finalised soon,” Ahmad said.

Public transport: ‘Tracking system now mandatory for public transport buses’

Lahore Transport Company Chairman Khwaja Ahmad Hassaan said on Monday that installation of tracking devices in buses was now a requirement for operating in the city.

He was speaking at a meeting to review the LTC’s performance in the current year.

Hassaan said tracking devices had already been installed in more than 400 buses in the city’s fleet of 500.

He said the LTC had added 430 air-conditioned buses to its fleet this year. These, he said, included buses running on inter-city routes.

He said there was an information technology cell at the LTC to keep track of the buses.

The LTC chairman said that besides some local companies, Chinese, Korean and Turkish businesses had expressed interest in investing in the city’s public transport sector.

About a recently-launched driving school, Hassaan said the establishment of the school would help train drivers for public transport in the city.

Acting LTC CEO Amjad Hussain briefed the meeting about ongoing projects.

He said the LTC would reorganise some routes to tap full potential of the Metro Bus Service. He said the LTC had improved transportation between Lahore and some of its suburbs.

The meeting was told that a Korean Company, Pakor Global, had launched an air-conditioned bus service from the city’s general bus stand to Maraka.

Inauguration: NATCO makes its first transit in Azad Kashmir

Delayed thrice, the much-anticipated bus service by the Northern Areas Transport Corporation (Natco) was finally launched on Monday. To put a cherry on top, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Transport Authority Chairman Adil Mahmood Khan announced that commuters will not be charged for the inaugural transit, between Mirpur and Muzafarrabad.

A 42-seater Natco bus carrying 20 passengers left for Muzafarrabad at 4am as per schedule and returned back to Mirpur at 4pm. A duty magistrate and a number of police officials were deputed at different points along the route to ensure security.

Despite reservations of local transporters, the bus service has been issued route permits for three routes: from Mirpur to Chakothi via Muzaffarabad, from Mirpur to Islamabad and from Neelam valley to Islamabad via Muzaffarabad, said Khan, the chairman of the AJK Transport Authority.
“People [in AJK] were being forced to travel on substandard, dated and overloaded vehicles of private transporters for years,” said Mir Fazalur Rehman, a social worker, who lauded the launch of the public-sector Natco bus service.

The transport authority had initially declared that the service will be launched on September 3, but was delayed till September 6, and then again till September 20.

Metro Bus Service: Work on new Ravi bridge yet to start

Work is yet to begin on a key bridge across River Ravi for the Metro Bus Service project.

The chief minister has set a December deadline for completion of the project.

A Traffic Engineering and Planning Authority (TEPA) official associated with the project, who spoke on condition on anonymity, told The Express Tribune that building the 700-metre bridge could take up to six months. He believed that the earliest the project could be completed was by January 2013.

The project was started in February as the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS). The name has been changed since to Metro Bus Service.

The original plan was for a 7-kilometre track from Gaju Matta to Kalma Chowk. It was later extended till Shahdara.

According to the original plan, the track would have been laid at ground level. The design was changed to include elevated tracks in May.

Other changes included expanding the Lahore Bridge and constructing a new bridge over River Ravi.

The TEPA official told The Tribune that work on the new bridge could not be started because of lack of funds. “The project cost has already risen by Rs7 billion,” he said. “A new Ravi bridge will cost another Rs1.5 to Rs2 billion,” the official told The Tribune. He called it an “uphill task” saying the bridge will require 70-metre deep piles.

He said that work on packages five and six (from Data Darbar to Niazi Chowk and Niazi Chowk to Shahdara) was also behind schedule.

The Traffic Engineering and Planning Authority official said that the government was now thinking of using the Ravi Bridge for Metro buses until the new bridge was constructed.

Mazhar Hussain, the TEPA director, declined to comment on whether or not the project will be delayed. He said work on packages five and six was continuing at “a decent pace”, adding that they were trying their best to meet the deadline.

He also said that the bus service was not dependant on the new bridge. He said in case the new bridge wasn’t built in time, the Ravi Bridge could be used by the MBS. “That is what the Planning and Development Department had originally proposed,” he said.

Metro Bus Service: Work on new Ravi bridge yet to start

Lahore Transport Company (LTC) on Saturday launched an air-conditioned bus service from General Bus Stand to Maraka (Route B-02).

The service was inaugurated by Korean Ambassador Chung Joo Choi and Minister for Planning and Development Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor.

Ghafoor said Pakistan is a land of opportunity. He said investment from Korean companies showed the strength of the relationship between the two countries. He said the new buses will stop at Lahore Fort, Azadi Chowk, Bhati Gate, Chauburji, Samanabad, Scheme Mor, Thokar Niaz Baig, Chuhng Training Centre and Mohlanwal on their way.

Acting CEO Amjad Hussain said as many as 430 new AC buses had been inducted into the existing fleet of buses since LTC was created. He said a transparent system to track the disbursement of subsidies had been developed.

Pakor Global CEO Jai I Kim and General Manager Sohail Ahmad also spoke on the occasion. LTC General Manager (Finance) Mariam Khawar, Senior Manager (Finance) Zafar Ahmad Qureshi, Senior Manager (Planning) Sara Khan, Manager (Planning and Operations) Huma Daha, Manager (Engineering and Infrastructure) Faisal Nisar, Manager (Enforcement) Shafiq Ahmad and Manager (Human Resources) Abid Hussain were also present.

Model town underpass: Govt approves construction but design undecided

The Punjab government has granted approval in principle for the construction of a one-way underpass for traffic entering Model Town from Ferozepur Road. Meanwhile, Model Town residents have demanded an alternative exit while construction is underway.

Project Director Mazhar Hussain, who is also a director at the Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency, said that the government had approved the construction of an underpass, but various design details were yet to be finalised so he could not say how long the project would take.

Earlier, the government had approved a Rs200 million project to build a tunnel for a future underpass at the site. Construction companies SKB and Habib Constructions began building the tunnel around 10 days ago and have laid 50 of the 150 piles for the tunnel. But the construction work has resulted in a partial closure of the main exit from Model Town to Ferozepur Road, resulting in major traffic problems.

Officials familiar with the project said that the underpass would start some 90 metres from where the Kalma Chowk Flyover ends. The two-lane underpass would have two 150-metre ramps, one at the entrance and one at the exit. The central passage would be 30 to 50 metres wide. The officials said though the design had not been finalised, this was the construction plan for the tunnel approved earlier.

One official said that the approach to the underpass would be to the left of the bridge (for traffic heading towards Model Town) and motorists using the flyover would not be able to use it. He said that it was yet to be decided whether the approach would have two lanes or three lanes. He said that some land might have to be purchased for the project.

Motorists leaving Model Town and headed towards Kalma Chowk would use the slip lane while motorists wishing to go towards General Hospital would have to go via Ittefaq Hospital on inner Model Town roads. The official said that allowing traffic using the flyover to go down the underpass would slow traffic and cause accidents.

Residents of Model Town said that the ongoing works had resulted in traffic chaos. An elected Model Town Society official said that there were only two exits, at Ferozepur Road and via Garden Town. He said that the Ferozepur Road exit was partially closed and so the Garden Town exit was choked. He said that another exit point should be set up while the construction is underway.

He said that if traffic heading for Model Town was unable to use the flyover, there would be traffic jams under it. “They are creating traffic problems rather than addressing them,” he said, adding that residents were considering protests and approaching the courts with their grievances.

MTS Civil Engineer Taimoor said that the society had not been informed of the any recent developments on the underpass. He said that he had not been told of where the underpass would start or end, but if the exit was at Nursery Chowk, it was a bad idea as it would result in more traffic problems. He said that the society had demanded the project design so they could plan the relocation of services, but they were yet to receive it

Conservation society refuses to endorse BRTS

Indeed this will certainly be going to spoil most of the cultural part of the city ~ That's why in case of LRMTS, the metro train goes underground from Kalma chowk till data darbar ....... 

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The Lahore Conservation Society has refused to endorse three projects for which Chief Secretary Nasir Khosa sought its approval two weeks ago, the Society said in a statement on Wednesday.

The chief secretary had called the meeting to seek LCS input on the restoration of the facades of four historic buildings on The Mall; the planting of trees along the Canal; and the redesigned BRTS project, said Ajaz Anwar, a famous painter and the LCS information secretary. He said that he and architect Nayyer Ali Dada had attended the meeting, which included officials working on the BRTS project, of the Parks and Horticulture Authority, and from various government departments.

Anwar said that they had objections to each of the projects. He said that when the LCS moved the Supreme Court over the cutting of trees along the Canal for the expansion of the road, the government had pledged to plant 10 indigenous saplings for every tree cut down. “We still await the ‘ten saplings for each mature tree cut down’ in the process, as promised by the ‘Khaadim-i-Aala’,” said Anwar.

Instead, he said, the government had planted imported tree species that were not suitable to local conditions or local species of nesting birds. He said that three of every 10 planted saplings had died. He added that there had been no auditing of the wood from several hundred trees removed from both sides of the Canal.

Anwar said that he had concerns about the city government being put in charge of the restoration of the facades of four historic buildings on The Mall. “This is unacceptable. Experts should be called in to repair the Ghulam Rasool building, as it is a major part of our heritage. It should be restored to its original state and not be disfigured.” The building was recently damaged in a fire at the Ferozsons book store.

Meanwhile the redesigned BRTS track, Anwar said, violated the Antiquities Act of 2012.

He said that the elevated BRTS track would disrupt the view of Government College University, Badshahi Masjid and Data Darbar on the Lower Mall. “The Antiquity Act clearly states that any structure obstructing the view of a historic building should not be built, and they need to change their plan accordingly.

Further, the BRTS was a hindrance to all other forms of traffic. “Commuters, particularly those heading to the GCU High Tension Lab and Metropolitan Corporations Office, are hindered by the BRTS. They have to drive extra, losing time and fuel, to get to and from work,” he said.

Further, he said, the chief secretary had called a meeting on the BRTS with civil society members long after work on all three projects had started. “They should have engaged us with the BRTS and other projects from the beginning. Civil society cannot be made redundant. Their participation is important in the decision making process,” said Anwar.

He said that it was important that objections were discussed publicly rather than in a private meeting so people were educated about the issues and they could not easily be covered up.

He said that since its formation in 1984, the LCS had engaged in several campaigns to protest historic buildings such as Chauburji, Badshahi Masjid and Tollinton Market. “We are capable of getting out on the streets again if our demands are not met,” he said.