KARACHI, Feb 19: The city government, under its Karachi Mass Transit Programme, has extended the date of submission of tender documents for a rail-based transport system in Karachi by March 10, as only two companies have submitted their documents.

The city government had recently issued international tenders for six proposed corridors of rail-based mass transit system in Karachi on BOT basis at a cost of Rs6000 or US$ 100, but it has been extended to accommodate more bidders.

These proposed corridors are:

1) Sohrab Goth to Tower — 18km and its extension up to New Sabzimandi in a later phase.

2) Orangi to Cantonment Station — 12 km.

3) New Karachi to Shershah — 17 km.

4) Karachi City to Landhi, along the main rail track — 23 km.

5) Nagan Chowrangi to Korangi via Rashid Minhas Road.

6) Baldia-Cantonment Station via RCD highway.

According to an official of the KMTP, the last date of Feb 17 coincided with the Chinese new year celebrations which is not only observed in China, but in Singapore and Hong Kong, too.

MTrans of Malaysia and a consortium of German, Arab, Swiss company by the name of InterGlobe Euro-Arab group have submitted their requests.

MTrans has successfully built a 8.5 km mono-rail system, with an 80 per cent local component in Kuala Lumpur that will be inaugurated in April. This firm took over the abandoned project after the Japanese firm that was building it had to leave Malaysia due to economic crisis.

Whereas, the magnetic rail of Interglobe is a new technology that is described by its chief executive, Dr. Wagner, as state-of-the-art technology in rail business that can be compared to introduction of jet engines in place of propellers.

It is a driver-less train and all controls are located at computerized central command.

According to Dr. Wagner, the rail tracks are like extended wiring of any electric motor that generates a magnetic field making the rail travel forward at a very fast speed of up to 600km per hour.

However, the system is presently operational only in England, Germany and Shanghai on 30 km track each while Lahore is the third place where it will be established by the end of 2004 as the city government of Lahore has signed a contract with the Interglobe for building this system on BOT basis.

The magnetic rail in Lahore is a 34km long project that will be completed in two phases from Ravi bridge to Bhatti Chowk and from Bhatti Chowk to new Lahore Airport terminal. The firm will finance 85 per cent of the project cost, while the share of Lahore City Government will be 15 per cent in the shape of land equity.

About Rs320 million have been spent on various studies on mass transit in Karachi since 1987.

Meanwhile, a Malaysian delegation, led by Dr. Leong Siew Mun, deputy director, urban transport department of the city government, Kuala Lumpur, and a senior transport engineer of MTrans recently visited Karachi on request of City Nazim Naimatullah Khan and informed him about various solutions to serious traffic problems in Karachi.

Since Kuala Lumpur too faced severe traffic problems similar to Karachi, but these have been controlled to a large extent with the introduction of four different rail-based public transport systems and their fifth system, the elevated monorail, will become operational in April this year.

Keeping in view the growing traffic congestion at the roads of Karachi, the city government needs to respond timely rather continuing with the procedural delays for establishing any rail-based transit system.—PPI