Hydropower: Imported machinery to help complete Neelum-Jhelum project before time

Similar boring machines are required for LRMTS underground part ......... which shall indeed make the whole excavation quite easy 

-----------------------------

The Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project is likely to be completed about two years ahead of schedule now that Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) have reached the site. 

Official sources in Wapda said that the TBMs were imported from Germany at a cost of around Rs8 billion and would expedite the excavation of 32- kilometre long water tunnels.

Pakistan would join the club of hi-tech countries which use the machinery for excavating tunnels. The sources said construction work was under process on the project round the clock to ensure completion of the project by June 2016.

The 969MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project is part of Wapda’s low cost generation programme, being implemented on a priority basis. The project is being constructed over Rivers Neelum and Jhelum in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The project will contribute about 5.15 billion units of electricity annually to the national grid. Annual benefits of the project have been estimated at Rs45 billion.

First privately-run Shalimar Express due in Karachi today

KARACHI: The Shalimar Express, which has been contracted out by Pakistan Railways to a private company, will arrive from Lahore at the cantonment station here on Saturday night at around 11.55pm.

This is the second train, after the Business Express, which Pakistan Railways has contracted out to a private party under the public-private partnership arrangement.

The express trains will simultaneously leave from Karachi and Lahore at 6am daily and reach their destinations at 11.55pm the same day. Tickets of the service range from Rs2,800 for the parlour car to Rs800 for the economy class for the entire journey.

The train has stops in Khanewal, Multan, Rohri, Nawabshah and Hyderabad.

The Business Express, which initially started only with the business class with a fare of Rs5,000, has now introduced several new categories of tickets, including Rs3,500 for air-conditioned class, Rs1,800 for non-air-conditioned class with sleeper and berth and Rs1,500 with seat only.

German Giant MAN setting up Truck n Bus Manufacturing Plant

To explore new business avenues in the agricultural sector, German farm minister will arrive in Pakistan in a couple of months while a German auto giant is making huge investment by establishing a manufacturing plant in Pakistan, says German Embassy’s Commercial Section Head Samy Saddi.

Speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Wednesday, Saddi said German auto giant MAN is putting up a truck and bus manufacturing plant which would not only create a large number of job opportunities but would also send positive signal to investors in other developed countries.

The diplomat said other German companies were also planning to make investment in alternative energy to help Pakistan overcome the energy crisis.

Saddi spoke about measures being taken by the German government to strengthen bilateral economic relations and said the upcoming visit of agricultural minister was very much part of these efforts.

LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said continuous fall in bilateral trade called for appropriate sector-specific, result-oriented measures by both sides as the existing trade volume of $1.9 billion did not correspond with the great potential the two countries had.

100 New Buses in 10 Days

The Lahore Transport Company (LTC) will import 350 buses by the middle of April, including 100 in the next 10 days, said LTC Chairman Khawaja Ahmad Hassaan. The government will also get standardised buses for Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur and Multan very soon, Hassaan said at an LTC board meeting on Tuesday. 

He said that the LTC’s enforcement wing would ensure the adoption of safety standards in public transport and, in collaboration with the Transport Department, the tehsil municipal administrations and traffic police, launch an operation against substandard CNG cylinders. He said that bus staff should behave better with passengers.  Hassaan said that the Bus Rapid Transit system – a dedicated road corridor for buses currently being laid on Ferozepur Road from Chungi Amr Sidhu to Kalma Chowk – would serve about 150,000 passengers a day.

Public transport: Work on Intelligent Transport System to begin March 5

Engineers will start work next month on an Intelligent Transport System (ITS) to improve traffic management along the first stretch of the new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, from Gajju Mata to Kalma Chowk.

Under the ITS project, 150 road junctions in the city will get high-tech traffic signals that, using sensors and cameras, can detect the level of traffic on each side and adjust accordingly. The junctions will also get LCD screens to inform motorists of traffic conditions ahead, and cameras that can detect traffic signal and speeding offences.

ITS and BRT Project Director Mazhar Hussain Khan told The Express Tribune that 14 surveillance cameras, 30 traffic cameras, 2 speed corridor violation cameras, 25 red light violation detection cameras and 25 red light detection video cameras would be installed along 13 junctions of the BRT, a two-lane bus corridor running down the middle of Ferozepur Road, in “package one of phase one” of the ITS project starting on March 5. It would take about four months to finish, said Khan, who is also director (engineering construction) at the Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA).

The budget for package one, which includes developing a command and control centre on the fifth floor of the Arfa Software and Technology Park, is Rs860 million. Some Rs4 billion has been budgeted for the ITS project over the course of one year from its starting date. In phase one of the project, a total of 83 junctions around the city will be upgraded.

Khan said that the sensors and cameras installed at the traffic signals would be able to analyse the traffic load on the road. “The signal will modify its timing according to the density of traffic on any given side,” he said.

LCD screens would be set up at the junctions to display information about traffic around the city and the road ahead, he said. Footage from the cameras would be accessible at the command and control centre and officials there would be quickly able to develop a diversion plan if they spot a road blockage.

The cameras would also be able to spot speeding vehicles or those crossing on a red light. The vehicles would be identified through their licence plates. With the help of excise and taxation and customs officials, challans could then be sent straight to the home addresses of the violators.

“The police will also be able to keep track of suspicious vehicles,” Khan said. “And the command and control centre can also inform Rescue 1122 if there is a serious accident, most of which occur at junctions.”

Uzair Shah, the general manager (Infrastructure) at the Lahore Transport Company, said that the ITS was integral to the BRT project. For one, it would ensure that there is a regular interval between buses so passengers get a regular service. “The signals work with sensors and retainable memory so they will know how to manage a green signal for buses without hindering the flow of traffic,” he said.

Sources in TEPA and a traffic consultancy, speaking on the condition of anonymity, had some criticisms about the project. They said that the new technology would be hard to understand for most motorists in Lahore since they were unfamiliar with it. They also said that more advanced smart transport systems existed in Japan and the US and the ITS in Lahore should have been modelled on one of these. And they said that redesigning some junctions would be a more effective traffic management measure.

Khan, the project director, said that the new system was not too hard to follow and the citizens of Lahore would get used to it. He did not disagree that the Turkish system was less advanced than some others, but said that the Punjab government had decided to engage a Turkish firm because of its close ties with the country.

He said that 2.5 million vehicles use Lahore’s roads every day and a smart transport system was essential to managing this traffic load efficiently. “Expanding roads and junctions alone is not enough,” he said.

Public-private partnerships: Five more private train services in the offing

LAHORE: 

As a step forward to improve the financial status of the state run corporation, Pakistan Railways is planning to operate another five trains on public private partnership this year.

These trains will be besides the Pak Business Express which is already providing around Rs .5 million daily to railways and Shalimar Express, to be inaugurated on February 25 by the prime minister in Multan is expected to add Rs1.5 million daily to the revenues of Pakistan Railways.

“We need to improve the standard of the journey and passengers, if any private party provides such services, it will be welcomed by us,” said Saeed Akhter, General Manager Operations PR. I hope these public private partnerships will prove to be a turning point for railways, he said.

The public-private partnership train services in the pipeline include Super Express, from Malikwal to Karachi via Sargodha, Faisalabad, Khanewal and Rohri. The other train will be Fareed Express on the Lahore- Pakpatan-Karachi route; the train was previously operated on Commercial basis by Pakistan Railways Advisory and Consultancy Services (PRACS) and was very profitable.

Keeping in view the requirements of Sialkot Business Community, PR will also operate a train from Sialkot to Karachi, Akhter said. Since that junction has a huge potential so we will make sure to operate a business train, to facilitate the Sialkot business community, he said.

All these trains, Akhter said, would include economy class coaches and ultimately facilitate the low-income passengers for which the railways is actually working, he said. We sincerely want these public private partnerships to continue, not only for the reason of providing funds to railways but also to win back the confidence of the commuters, he said.

With Pak Business Express and Shalimar Express, Railways will earn revenue of Rs1131.5 million and Rs547.5 million respectively on an annual basis. If the other trains become operational as per schedule and if they are able to achieve even 60 percent occupancy then PR is looking to ear Rs3.5b annually.

Akhter said that the success of these partnerships would ultimately put pressure on the PR administration to improve the financial situation of the trains being operated in the public sector. “The success of these trains, he said, will be the success of Pakistan Railways.

BRTS Update: Work in Progress

Some Further Developments on BRTS ~ 

City planning: Traffic issues persist at Kalma Chowk

That was for sure ...... Wouldn't be a miracle if any project in our country be a perfect one ........ means really planned one 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite the new flyover, long waiting times persist for some traffic at Kalma Chowk.

For vehicles travelling straight down Ferozepur Road, the flyover cuts travel times across the busy intersection. But for traffic turning towards New Garden Town or Gulberg, congestion is still a problem.

A traffic police official said that the problem was caused by poor design and planning of traffic junctions. A Communication and Works official said that the problem was poor management and the blocking of the traffic signal in the service lane for vehicles headed towards Model Town and New Garden Town.

When the barricades are up, vehicles coming from Gaddafi Stadium and wanting to turn right at the chowk must get into the service lane before the start of the flyover, turn left onto Main Boulevard, then make a u-turn at the Centre Point junction back towards Kalma Chowk before going straight to New Garden Town, adding around 500 metres to their journey.

Sadar Traffic Superintendent of Police (SP) Asif Zafar Cheema said that the Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA) had set up signals at the service lanes, but it could still get very congested. He said that the barricades were placed at the service lane during peak traffic hours to set up the diversion.

The diversion puts an extra burden on Main Boulevard, he said, particularly where vehicles from the service lane merge with traffic heading towards Liberty from New Garden Town, and at the Centre Point u-turn where the diverted vehicles meet traffic headed from Liberty to New Garden Town. “It greatly slows down all traffic,” he said. “These junctions need to be reviewed.”

Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency Director (Planning) Khalid Mehmood Alvi said that the Communication and Works Department together with their consultants the National Engineering Services of Pakistan was responsible for the traffic problem at Kalma Chowk.

Sabir Khan Sadozai, the project director for the Kalma Chowk flyover and who is currently in charge of the Muslim Town flyover, said that if wardens were placed at the square beneath the flyover and the traffic signals kept running, there would be smoother traffic movement.

“They did a one-day trial around six weeks ago when the signals were set up, opening the signal for about 20 seconds for Ferozepur Road traffic. It was quite successful,” he said.

However, he said, traffic police would place barricades at the service lane during peak hours and vehicles were forced onto the alternate route. “If handled properly, traffic will run smoothly without any barricades.”

He said that plans to build an underpass at Kalma Chowk linking New Garden Town and Gulberg, originally mooted to be built at the same time as the flyover, had been shelved as it was not really needed.

“It will be required in about three years but not right now,” he said

Flyovers on F-pur Road: Impact on LRMTS

That's the reality ..... The Speedy CM, don't know how come would be able to start the project

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fate of this project is under risk, as Govt. of Punjab has constructed a flyover at Kalma Chowk. Semi Government Consultant Company was responsible for the design & construction of the Kalma Chowk flyover. LRMTS Green Line alignment and design had been completely ignored. The construction had been done on ad-hoc basis due to inability of the Consultant to understand and incorporate the complex LRMTS Green Line (GL) alignment and station design.

The situation is further made worst by the recently started construction of Canal / Muslim Town/ Wahdat road junction flyover. This will have the same impact on GL Cana station as did the Kalma Chowk flyover. Future LRMTS Green Line would need another review and re-design effort by some International Consultant.

Rapid Bus Transit system: Plans for first bus-only road stretch extended

The Lahore Transport Company (LTC) has decided to extend the first stretch of a special bus-only lane for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system from 7.3 to 10 kilometres, said engineers and officials.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Work on the bus lane began in February and the first phase is scheduled for completion by March 30. The BRT is to provide a 27-km bus corridor from Gajju Mata to Shahdara running down the middle of Ferozepur Road, which runs roughly from southeast to northwest Lahore. A Turkish firm is to provide the final master plan for the project in March.

Initially, the first phase of BRT was to run about 5.6 km from Chungi Amer Sidhu to Kalma Chowk. The route was later extended to 7.3 km, running from Kamahan to Kalma Chowk. On Saturday, LTC officials met and decided to start the first phase further south from Gajju Mata. The distance from Gajju Mata to Kalma Chowk is around 10 km.

The route will have 10 bus stops, at Ashyana, Chungi Amar Sidhu, Ghazi Road, the Qainchi, the Phatak, Children’s Hospital, Gulab Devi Hospital, Naseerabad, Model Town and Kalma Chowk. The entire BRT will have 38 stops.

Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA) officials said that overhead pedestrian bridges would be built at each stop. The bus lane would expand from about 10 metres wide to about 18 metres at the stops.

The officials added that a dedicated bus-only lane could not be built on the entire Ferozepur Road, as there was not enough space in some areas. For example, there would be no bus lane on the bridge at Chungi Amar Sidhu. For one, the median cannot be removed since the bridge’s support joints are located there. Second, the bridge is narrow and building a bus lane down the middle would leave little space for other traffic.

LTC General Manager (Planning) Uzair Shah said that the estimated cost of the project had gone up from Rs1.48 billion to Rs2 billion. He said that 120 buses would run on the route every two minutes and special 18-metre long buses would be imported in May.

Local buses would be run on the completed portion of the BRT before May, he said. A smart ticketing system would also be set up, he said, so passengers could swipe cards to get on buses, ending the need for conductors.