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.