Iraqi City Najaf to Get Ultra-Modern Monorail System

If LRMTS started by next year that it will also be completed within three years ................. Can compare progress with this project .......
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NAJAF: The Iraqi shrine city of Najaf, whose mediaeval-style alleyways host millions of Shiite pilgrims every year, has signed a deal for a monorail to rival that of ultra-modern Dubai, a provincial official said on Sunday.

The city, which is home to the grand ayatollahs who wield huge influence among Iraq's Shiite majority community, will be the first in the country to get a rapid transit system, with proposals for a Baghdad metro still very much on the drawing board.

The monorail will ferry pilgrims between Najaf's most revered shrines, the Mausoleum of Imam Ali in the city centre and the Grand and Al-Sahla Mosques in Kufa, 10 kilometres (six miles) to the west, provincial investment committee member Anwar al-Habubi told a foreign news agency.

The system, which is due for completion within three years, will also provide links to the city's two main bus stations, he added.

In a later phase of the project, the provincial council plans to connect the network to the city's international airport, opened two years ago to serve the tens of thousands of Shiite pilgrims who travel from Iran, Lebanon, south Asia and elsewhere.

The monorail will run at an elevation of six metres (20 feet) above the city's streets, Habubi said. The network, much of which will be twin-track, will have a combined length of 37 kilometres (23 miles).

Canada-based international engineering consortium TransGlobim International Inc is to build the 248-million-dollar system, which is scheduled for completion within three years, Habubi added.

"Construction will start right away as the project already has its investment licence," he said.

Globim said on its website that the project entailed financing and operating the network over a 30-year concession period as well as the survey, design and construction work. "Guideway design will accommodate blast protection," the firm said on its website referring to the concrete track and supports which carry the monorail.

Protection against bomb blasts is an important consideration in a city where Shiite pilgrims have come under repeated attack by Sunni extremists, including militants from Al-Qaeda.

"All guideway components will be pre-cast and assembled on site," the company added. It said construction would take two years after completion of the survey and design work.

Service frequency on the network will vary in accordance with the rhythm of the pilgrimage traffic. In total, Najaf welcomes around 70 million faithful to its holy places every year but the numbers fluctuate widely from day to day.

"Currently, Najaf hosts more than 5,000 visitors per day Saturday to Wednesday peaking to 20,000 visitors per day on the weekend -- Thursday/Friday," the company said.

"On 20 major nights of the year, the city is host to over one million people per day.

"Initially (there will be) five to six minute headway between trains, moving to two to three minutes in heavy usage periods," the company said.

"Train capacity will be 400 to 420 people per train travelling 35 to 80 kilometres per hour (22 to 50 miles per hour) depending on station distance."

Habubi hailed the signing of the monorail deal.

"It is a big asset for Najaf -- it will provide an important service for pilgrims and ease the massive congestion problems," he said.

Currently the only other monorail system in the Middle East is in Dubai. The line, which opened last year, links the mainland to the man-made island of Palm Jumeirah -- a residential and leisure mega-project off the coast in the Gulf.

Rs 32.885 Billion Earmarked for New Roads in Punjab

Further news about LRMTS in this Punjab Government Road Sector Allocation called MTDF.
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LAHORE (June 27 2010): To deal with passengers and freight traffic demand for roads, the Punjab government has allocated Rs 32.885 billion, the amount shows an increase of over 15 percent in the provincial budget 2010-11. The passengers and freight traffic has increased to 4.5 percent and 10.5 percent respectively in the last couple of years in Punjab

The road sector allocations for ADP (2010-11) account for about 16 percent of the province's overall development outlay for the year 2010-11. According to the budget documents, the government has allocated Rs 30.435 billion for the year 2012-13 and Rs 26.004 billion for the year 2012-13 under the Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF).


The MTDF (2010-11) aims to improve existing road densities through rehabilitation/improvement and expansion of existing network. With transition of major part of the farm-to-market/district roads network to the district governments since devolution, the provincial road sector has been focusing to consolidate and maintain the existing inter-district roads while catering for rehabilitation of the rural-access roads under an umbrella programme. In addition, present development portfolio for the province entails major urban and inter- city road projects including Lahore Ring Road and Lahore Rapid Mass Transit System.

Plan to Convert Railways into Profitable Entity on Anvil

Seems like a joke ................. Government is interested in reviving Railways ........... Hopes and nothing else ................

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ISLAMABAD (June 27 2010): The government has decided to devise a comprehensive plan to convert Pakistan Railways into a profitable entity by privatising sale of tickets and checking system, Business Recorder has learnt. Sources in the Railway Ministry said that the government has decided to devise a plan, for the next three years, under which ticketing sale and its checking would be privatised.

Similarly, modern computerised system would be introduced to increase trains' speed. To enhance revenue, new freight trains and oil tankers will operate from Karachi to other parts of the country. Sources said that to curtail the increasing trend of travelling in trains without a booked ticket, ticketing department would be privatised.

According to the plan, some private company fulfilling the Railways criteria would issue tickets. In this regard another proposal is also under consideration according to which private company will provide the passengers their tickets at their homes.

According to the plan, passengers will book their tickets online, which will not only save time but will also provide relief to the passengers who are always complaining about Railways mismanagement, sources added. Most of the people avoid travelling in trains as they take longer time as compared to air travel.

After installation of modern computerised system, trains' speed will automatically increase and it is expected that it will not only attract more passengers to travel by train but will also increase revenue. The plan is likely to be implemented in the next three years, which will covert the Pakistan Railways, which has sustained financial bungling in its 60-year history, to a profitable institution, sources added.

CM Reviews Improvement of Ferozpur Road Project

Hopefully this improvement shall be for the future construction of Lahore Mass Transit Project ............. Lets see .............

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LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has stressed the need for coordinated efforts by the departments concerned for maintaining a high standard of the roads in the provincial metropolis and provision of better facilities to the citizens.



He was addressing a meeting held to review the measures taken for the improvement of Ferozepur Road here on Friday. Members Provincial Assembly Hafiz Mian Nauman, Mian Naseer Ahmad and Ramzan Siddique, Commissioner and District Coordination Officer Lahore, Directors General LDA and PHA, Managing Directors WASA and Solid Waste Management, DIG City Traffic Lahore and prominent journalist Iftikhar Ahmad were also present on the occasion.
He directed that an effective strategy should be evolved for monitoring efficiency of the government departments and the officials showing better performance should be encouraged while action should be taken against those who fail to perform satisfactorily.

He announced cash award of Rs5 lakh for government officials showing outstanding performance in the construction of Ferozpur Road.

He directed that parking plazas should be constructed on large pieces of land in the City and announced that a modern parking plaza would be constructed on four Kanal land at Icchra. He also directed to conduct a survey of petrol pumps in the provincial metropolis and submit him a report in this regard.

The chief minister said government is implementing a comprehensive strategy for providing better facilities to the citizens and measures are being taken for improving infrastructure throughout the province.

He said better facilities could become available to the citizens if government departments perform their responsibilities with commitment and dedication. He said the income generated through the sale of public properties under the privatization policy of the government would be spent on water supply and drainage schemes, improvement of infrastructure and provision of other facilities in the same districts.

He directed that besides improving Ferozepur Road, 15 more roads of provincial metropolis should be selected for improvement on the same pattern and a report should be submitted to him within ten days. He directed to adopt a uniform policy for constructing bus shelters on the roads. He said that comfortable seats, water coolers and other facilities should be provided in these bus shelters. He said that keeping in view the increasing traffic in the provincial metropolis, construction of parking plazas is the prime need.

Shahbaz Sharif meets Korean Rail Authority Team

Another step towards implementing the Mass Transit System in the City and its surroundings area ......... Thats Great but when all these shall be implemented .............. All eyes towards Lahore Mass Transit Project.
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Korean Rail Authority team met Shahbaz Sharif under the leadership of Korean Pakore Global Company Director Mr. Dong Il Kim in CM House. The team briefed about the present situation of Urban Transport System in the provincial capital along with other major cities of the province. CM said its the priority of the government to provide better transport facilities to the citizens.


Lot of Railway tracks which are being abandoned by Pakistan Railways can be utilized under this plan. He said that a Rail link connecting Lahore, Kasur, Sheikhupura and Wagha would be great but it should be linked with the local road transport for easy access to the commuters. He further said that there is indeed vast scope of cooperation between Korean firm and the Punjab Government.
Meanwhile, the Korean firm explained further about the plight of commuters in Lahore where the population of 9 million is forced to travel in only 700 buses where most of them are in dilapidated condition .

Late to Leave, Late to Arrive - Pakistan Railways

Seems like our organizations chiefs are deef and dumb ............. Its indeed sad to see such a wonderful mode of transportation collapsing day by day ......................

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Late arrival and departure of passenger trains at the Karachi Cantonment Railway Station along with poor facilities and mismanagement is causing immense problems to commuters with the result that people now blame the government and Pakistan Railways (PR) authorities for their sufferings.

For the past many weeks, most of the upcountry trains, including the Allama Iqbal Express, Pakistan Express, Tezgam and Shalimar Express, which are preferred by people travelling to Punjab, leave the platform well after the scheduled departure time.

On Wednesday, the Allama Iqbal Express left Cantt. Station at around 6:00 pm although its departure time is 2:30 pm. Same was the situation of other popular passenger trains as they too left the station after a delay of three to four hours while the passengers suffered in the sizzling summer heat.

Only a couple of trains like Karakoram Express and Karachi Express were being sent on time by the railway authorities as they have the ‘elite’ business class boogies and people spend thousands of rupees to get their tickets.

The passengers, who had seats reserved some two to three weeks back, cursed the government and railway authorities, including the Federal Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, for causing them inconvenience.

Talking to this scribe, the stranded passengers blamed Bilour and former minister Javed Ashraf Qazi and said, “They have left the Railway on the verge of collapse. PR officials are also conspiring to deprive the masses of the cheapest means of transportation.”

An elderly woman, who had reservation of Allama Iqbal Express for Sialkot said she her son had come to see her off but owing to the delay in train’s departure, he was standing by her for the past three hours and was late for work.

“There are no facilities for passengers at the railway stations. All the uncomfortable benches for passengers are occupied and many of us are sitting on the platform. I don’t know when the train will arrive and I would start the journey,” the lady complained.

Another family with children was also highly annoyed over the attitude of railway authorities. “For the past 20 years, we have hardly arrived on time at our destination thanks to PR. I’m going to my ancestral village near Lahore along with my kids. However, travelling by train is a misery from the start to the end,” Amin Ahmed, the head of the family added.

Another passenger, Rizwan Ali, who was returning from Lahore, told The News that he had come to Karachi a couple of days back through Karakoram Express in business class. “The train was due to arrive at Cantt Station at 10am but it took over 24 hours to arrive here and I reached Karachi at 4pm. My family members who had come to receive had to wait here endlessly for six hours to greet me,” he added.

Apart from delays in arrivals and departures, travel conditions in these trains are extremely filthy and cause immense inconvenience to commuters during their journeys spread over 20 to 24 hours.

“In business class, which is highly expensive traveling class introduced by the railway authorities, I have seen numerous cockroaches in the seats and washrooms, which shows the hygienic conditions of these trains” Abdullah, an upcountry resident said.

He said often water becomes scarce in the washrooms, fans don’t work and even air conditioners of trains do not work properly in this immensely hot weather, causing serious problems to passengers especially women and children.

DS Railways Aftab Memon could not be reached despite repeated visits to his office and calls to his cell-phone. However, other railway officials admitted that these problems existed.

“As far as delayed arrivals and departure of trains is concerned, former railway minister Javed Ashraf Qazi is to blame who purchased substandard Chinese locomotives, which are causing great trouble these days” a senior railway official said, requesting anonymity.

Apart from faulty and substandard locomotives, broken power generation plants, scarcity of boogies fit for travel, and lack of other facilities like small number of platforms and washing lines were some other issues behind the inconvenience to masses, he added.

The railway official said that railway tracks had not been fully rehabilitated since the riots after the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto while the signal system was another concern that was adding to the delays in trains’ arrivals and departures.

“Unfortunately, all these issues are in the knowledge of senior railway authorities including the federal minister, Chairman and GM Railways but they appear least concerned about problems to common people,” he added.

A railways’ labour leader Muqadar Zaman blamed the nexus of politicians and senior railway officers for the destruction of Pakistan Railways that led to extreme inconvenience to people and said unless these people mend their ways, no improvement was possible in Railways.

Zaman, who is senior vice president of Railway Labour Union (Railway Mehnutkash Union), said that officers were enjoying all privileges while lower-grade employees were being denied their basic rights and their condition was compelling them to adopt unethical practices.

“For instance, employees and their families are being forced to travel in economy class instead of lower AC class as this class is being abolished from most of the trains. Now employees are being compelled to travel in economy class whose condition is getting bad to worse with each passing day” he added.

He demanded the authorities to improve travel conditions for everybody including ordinary passengers by arranging timely departures and arrivals of the trains and provide them hassle-free journeys.

Indian Railways vs Pakistan Railways .... Former is indeed Far Ahead

LAHORE: While the federal government is pondering over the request of the loss-ridden Pakistan Railways to increase the fares of goods and passenger trains up to 15 per cent to help it meet its recent salary raise obligations and to neutralize the effects of surging oil prices, a peek into the 2010-11 budget of the profitable state-run Indian Railways shows that there is no increase in passenger fares and also for freight traffic.

In fact, the Indian Railways Minister has also announced reduction in service charges for e-tickets, besides slashing the freight charges for foodgrains and kerosene to help the common man.

New Delhi this year has out rightly rejected all proposals to increase the fares of Indian Railways, despite criticism from the bureaucracy and economic wizards that the ticket prices should be increased as the country had recorded steep inflation in 2009 due to soaring diesel costs primarily.

Comparing apple to apple, an intriguing study of the Indian Railways shows how this organization had managed to register a net profit of Indian Rs192.16 billion or Pakistani Rs345.88 billion between 2007 and 2010 without any hike in fares, freight rates or retrenchments during this 3-year period.

On the contrary, the Pakistan Railways continues to feature prominently among the white elephants burdening the exchequer, by incurring losses of nearly Rs52 billion during the same period.

While the Minister for Railways Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour is on record having said on the National Assembly floor that the Pakistan Railways incurred Rs30 billion losses during the last two years or Rs3 million per hour, his ministry has reportedly suffered a loss of Rs18 billion during these last 8 months also, which makes the net loss swell to approximately Rs52 billion in less than three years.

Bilour had told the National Assembly that Pakistan Railways had faced loss of Rs15.03 billion during the fiscal year 2007-08 and Rs18.6 billion in fiscal 2008-09. It is important to note that while the government had dished out a subsidy of Rs7.30 billion to the Pakistan Railways in 2007-08, a financial support to the tune of Rs9.03 billion was provided to it in 2008-09, though this assistance has had little impact on the overall performance of this organization’s operations.

Not very long ago, the 157-year-old Indian Railways was on the brink of defaulting on its dividend payments as it was consistently operating at a loss, but then prudent management and strong will of the men at the helm of its affairs, helped it report handsome profits during the last three years.

Having recorded a cash surplus of $18 billion by 2008, the amazing turnaround of Indian Railways from ‘Bankruptcy to Billions’ in the last five years, thus provides ample food for thought to the Pakistani politicians and technocrats.

The outdated website of Pakistan Railways, last updated on October 8, 2009 reportedly, speaks volumes of the fact that the officials running this department, are least bothered to facilitate the literate commuters who intend to check the timings and fares for their desired destinations online.

On the other hand, the Indian Railways website was reported to be the top visited Indian travel site in April 2010 with 7.7 million visitors benefiting from the online ticketing services available through it.

The Indian Railways had launched its website in 2003, where apart from the e-tickets, passengers could also book e-tickets that are basically regular printed tickets, except that they are booked online and delivered by post.

Being one of the world’s largest commercial or utility employers, with more than 1.6 million employees, the Indian Railways operates about 9,000 passenger trains.

It also has one of the largest and busiest rail networks in the world, transporting 20 million passengers and more than 2 million tonnes of freight daily through 0.2 million freight wagons, 50,000 coaches and 8,000 locomotives.

The Indian Railways covers 6,909 stations over a total route length of more than 63,273 kilometres.

As far as the Pakistan Railways is concerned, it carries an average of 178,000 people daily or 65 million passengers annually on a route length measuring 8,163 kilometres.

The route length of Pakistan Railways is less than 13 per cent of that of the Indian Railways, which gives a measure of how well the Indians have managed their huge government-controlled enterprise.

Pakistan Railways operates 228 mail, express and passenger trains daily. Currently languishing under a massive debt of over Rs56 billion, including Rs25 billion in foreign debt, the agony of Pakistan Railways and plight of its passengers thus continues, despite the fact that a report released in 2002-03 had explicitly mentioned that this state-controlled entity owned 167,690 acres of land with an estimated value of Rs246 billion at that time.

The history of Indian Railways may date back to 1853, but it is not very young in Pakistan’s case either. The idea of a rail network in this part of the then undivided India was first thought of in 1847, with the possibility of Karachi becoming a major seaport.

Sir Henry Edward Frere, who was appointed as the Commissioner of Sindh, sought permission from the then Governor General of India Lord James Andrew Dalhousie to begin a survey for a Karachi seaport and a survey for a railway line in 1858.

Initially, laying down of a Karachi to Kotri railway line was proposed and steamboat service on the Indus and Chenab rivers was recommended to connect Kotri to Multan, and from there another railway line was proposed to extend the route to Lahore.

On May 13, 1861, a 169 km long Karachi to Kotri railway line was hence opened for the public. By 1886, there were four railway companies operating in what would become Pakistan, 61 years down the road.

In 1947, after Pakistan became an independent state, 1,947 route miles (3,133 km) of North Western Railways were transferred to Pakistan from British India. One doesn’t expect Pakistan Railways to work wonders overnight, but lessons can be learnt from the recent success of Indian Railways at least, if the development of the $425 billion American freeway system with a 75,000-kilometre highway network seems a dream that may never come true for centuries with this level of governance and apathy of our rulers.