Park & Ride Project on M.M.Alam Road Lahore

Indeed a wonderful idea ............. waiting to see it being implemented
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CHIEF Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has said modern parking plazas will be constructed in all major cities of the province. He said the construction of a state-of-the-art parking plaza in Liberty Market was in final stages whereas the work on park and ride project pm the MM Alam Road would start soon.

He stated this during a meeting with the chief executive officer of Colliers International Mr Tony Davis here on Saturday. Shahbaz said parking facility was important keeping in view the increasing number of vehicles.

He said completion of multi-storey parking plaza in the park and ride project on the MM Alam Road would be of an international standard. He said parking plazas would help improve traffic management. He directed the authorities concerned to evolve a transparent policy regarding parking plazas and all projects should be of high quality. He said like the Liberty Market, plazas would also be constructed on a built operate transfer (BOT) basis in various areas of Lahore and other big cities of the province.

The CM asked the LDA director general to make special arrangements for security in parking plazas and give final shape to the process of identifying suitable places for construction of such plazas in the city.

The LDA director general said a transparent policy had been adopted for construction of parking plazas and firms had been selected in this regard. Earlier, Colliers International CEO Tony Davis gave a detailed briefing to the CM regarding parking plazas in Liberty Market and park and ride project on the MM Alam Road.

The Housing secretary, City Traffic DIG and officials concerned were present. Quality healthcare: Shahbaz Sharif has said the Punjab government is paying attention to the provision of modern and quality medical facilities to people and facility of dialysis and free medicines are available in hospitals.

He was talking to Federal Minister for Health Makhdoom Shahabuddin who called on him here on Saturday. The CM said that for the first time in the history of the country, air-conditioners and generators had been provided in hospitals.

He said that besides the construction of new hospitals, rural and basic health units were being upgraded in the province. He said work on the project of mobile dispensaries was going on and more funds would be allocated in the next provincial budget for education, health and other sectors of social development.

CM Punjab meet Swedish Company for Mass Transit & Bus Transportation

LAHORE (May 28 2010): Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that government is paying special attention to provide better transport facilities to the people of Punjab and effective measures are being taken for implementation of Lahore Mass Transit System (LMTS) as well as provision of modern and comfortable buses.

He stated this during a meeting with 4-member delegation of Swedish Company Rail Control Solution, Bonbardier Transportation led by its President Anders Lind Berg, at Chief Minister's Secretariat here on Thursday. Co-operation in mass transit sector came under discussion during the meeting.

The Chief Minister said that project of Lahore Mass Transit System was of great importance and the government was speedily working on this project in view of its significance. He said that Swedish company RCS Bonbardier Transportation was internationally recognised in railways sector and the government would welcome its co-operation in this project. He also directed to constitute a working group, which would review the co-operation on Mass Transit System Project. He said that it was a good opportunity for Swedish company to extend co-operation in the project and it should come forward in this regard.



The Chief Executive Officer of Lahore Rapid Mass Transit System Salman Ghani informed the delegation about the various aspects of the project. Head of the delegation Anders Lind Berg informed that his company had vast experience in railway sector and had worked on various Metro projects in different countries. He said that his company was interested in extending co-operation in Mass Transit System in Punjab and he would talk with concerned authorities in this regard. Kh Ahmed Hasaan, Chief Executive Officer Lahore Rapid Mass Transit System (LRMTS), Salman Ghani, Director Programme Shahid Mahmood and Secretary Transport, Captain Muhammad Yousaf (Retd) were also present on the occasion.

Plight of Railways Continues. Shame on Big Bosses of this Organization

What's left now in seeing thins backbone of the country's transportation falling a;; around
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LAHORE (May 27 2010): Pakistan Railways is violating Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) regulations and all norms of International Competitive Bidding (ICB), by trying to procure 150 diesel locomotives in a pre-planned manner from General Electric of USA, at more than double the last purchase rate of locomotives, which will result in a improper procurement of Rs 40 billion.

It was written in the letter by an American locomotive manufacturer General Motors/Electromotive Division (EMD) to the Ministry of Railways. American locomotive manufacturer General Motors/Electromotive Division (EMD) has jumped into the fray to the severe dismay of Railways higher ups.

EMD has written a serious letter (copy available to Business Recorder) through their local office to Minister of Railways drawing his attention to the serious violations of PPRA Rules and irregularities both technical and procedural being committed in this tender for 150 locos just to favour a certain bidder General Electric.

EMD letter states that the Railways tender "is termed "International Tender" whereas the product is to be manufactured and supplied from one country, ie USA. Restricting the bidding from USA will deny EMD to get financing under Canadian EDC channels who offer better terms and conditions than EXIM Bank USA and is far more favourable for both Pakistan Railways and the Government of Pakistan."

EMD openly and directly states that "We believe technical specifications are being formulated with a view to keep EMD out of competition and favour the competitor, ie General Electric. To mention a few: EMD is being restricted to 645F engine, which is outdated, obsolete and no more being manufactured or offered. "Similarly EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection) is being made mandatory to favour General Electric.

EMD office complains that "EMD stands disqualified even before participation" in the tender, which is all being done for ensuring that there is only one winner, ie General Electric. EMD letter concludes by requesting that the specifications for fairness to all bidders and not favourable to a particular manufacturer/supplier, ie General Electric.

Apprehensions expressed in EMD's letter were absolutely true, said an official in the Ministry of Railway seeking anonymity, and provided a copy of the tender to this scribe. The sources stated that the technical specifications have been deliberately tailor-made by General Electric's supporter. Behzad Mahmood, who is Railways CME/Loco, and who has ensured that General Electric can be the only bidder who will meet these specifications, he added.

As stated in EMD letter, Behzad Mahmood has intentionally kept only two diesel engines as acceptable in the technical specifications of this tender. The first being General Electric's 7FDL, and the second being General Motors/EMD's 645F. Railways is well aware that EMD's 645F engine is out of production, so in actual fact Behzad Mahmood has very shrewdly and cleverly ensured that there can only be one qualified bidder, ie General Electric.

By the way, restricting the bidding to any specific brand/make is violation of PPRA procurement rule 10. Further proof of mala fide intent is that the technical specifications of this tender are almost exactly in line with the original General Electric proposal dated 12 February 2010. In other words, the standard PR technical specifications have been altered from previous tenders so that they are customised for General Electric's locomotives.

Apart from the choice of General Electric Engine 7FDL, AC-AC traction has been specified for the 3000 HP locomotives. This is exactly as per General Electric Offer dated 12 February 2010 despite the fact that all current locomotives on Pakistan Railways have AC-DC traction. Similarly, to name another customisation, Electronic Fuel Injection has been made mandatory.

Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) has already written to Railways requesting for an explanation of this dubious tendering. To deter other bidders from buying the tender documents (and complaining about the obvious collusion with General Electric), Railways took the unprecedented step of keeping the tender price at Rs 500,000 (which was one hundred times more than the Rs 5,000 price of previous locomotive tenders). Exposure of this fact in the newspapers and electronic media made the Railways backtrack and reduce the bid price to Rs 5,000 on 13 May 2010.

Sources added that Railways General Manager (Manufacturing), Syed Shahid Ahmed, is masterminding this mis-procurement and is making all out efforts to justify the high cost and purchase of General Electric locomotives for personal vested interests, and he has even been quoted in a local paper blaming President Zardari of corruption in the previous purchase of locomotives. Shahid Ahmed is focal person and the author of the Decision of the Railways Executive Committee dated 02 March 2010, which recommended that the preparation of PC-1 for this project could be avoided by disguising this procurement as a replacement, and attempted to sign the contract with General Electric without any tendering on the basis of their dated 12 February 2010.

An official in the Ministry of Railways hoped that this tender process is investigated by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Auditor General of Pakistan, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and last but not the least prayed that suo moto notice should be taken by the honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Details about Lahore Mass Transit Project/Lahore Metro

I found a very nice brochure detailing the procedure and concept of the whole Lahore Metro or Lahore Mass Transit System .......
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ADB to Give $500 Million Loan for Reviving Pakistan Railways

ADB assistance always comes when the institutions are almost about to collapse ........... I hope this aid shall be helpful in reviving the almost dead Pakistan Railways which is right now closing all the train and routes one by one. Its indeed very sad to see such an important mode of transportation falling..............

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ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $500 million for the Pakistan Railways under it multi-tranche financing facility MFF, officials said.

The loan, to be provided under the Railway Investment Development Plan of the government, is aimed at turning the flailing department into a profitable one. Officials said the first installment of $120 million will be released next year while the remaining loan will be delivered in two installments until 2013. The ADB has also approved a separate $1.5 million in technical aid which will be spent on procurement, preparation of roadmap, hiring of consultants and project implementation.

The final approval for the project will be given after a technical assistant for the railways submits a feasibility report to the bank by the end of the current year. According to documents, the first part of the project will link railway lines of Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Shahdara and Lala Musa to industrial cities of Faisalabad and Rawalpindi. This railway line will give access to Peshawar and provide strategic support to the National Trade Corridor. It will also be used for travelling from Karachi to Peshawar and Torkhum and if the railway line gets linked to Torkham then it will provide great ease in transportation of goods to Afghanistan, Jalalabad and cities in other provinces.

The documents showed that a 70km railway line between Gujranwala and Lala Musa will be extended. Besides, a computerised inter-locking signaling system will be introduced on the 134km railway track between Shahdara and Lala Musa. The final project, to take off in 2013, with the delivery of a $190 million installment, will be the establishment of a rail link between Shahdara to Faisalabad and the improvement of communication system in addition to installing computerised system over this route.

Public Transport Situation in Pakistan

Very nice explanation by Hasb e Haal team about public transport problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cOWfwputUY&feature=player_embedded#!

Hinopak: Good option for Lahore Transport Company to buy Buses

CM Punjab should instruct the Lahore Transport Company to support those companies who purchase local manufactured buses and HINOPAK is much famous in this business.
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