ISLAMABAD, Feb 7: The National Mass Transit Authority (Namta) on Wednesday directed the railway ministry to conduct feasibility study for developing mass transit system in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta and Islamabad.
The feasibility study for Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta and Hyderabad will be carried out by private companies, and it is expected that these studies would be completed within a period of one year, a senior official of the railway ministry said.
Karachi and Lahore may take the lead in the development of mass transit system as these cities have traces of circular railways.
Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told reporters in Islamabad on Wednesday that the feasibility studies of some portions of circular railway in Lahore and Karachi were currently being evaluated by the ministry.
The National Mass Transit Authority, in its first meeting, discussed the proposed draft bill for the establishment of Namta. The meeting heard views and suggestions of the provincial governments and other stakeholders on the proposed draft bill.
Representatives of ministries of finance, communications and planning and development as well as city nazims from Quetta, Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi and Faisalabad attended the meeting.
City District Nazim Raja Javed Akhlas also attended the meeting.
Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, who chaired the meeting, told reporters that the draft bill was now being sent to the Council of Common Interests (CCI) before the approval of the federal cabinet and submission to the parliament.
Namta is to act as the regulatory authority for all railway transit system in respect of specifications, standards, construction, designs and public interest. It will facilitate development of mass transit systems for eight cities as directed by the prime minister, in consultation with the provincial and city governments concerned, Mr Ahmed said.
The minister termed the bullet train between Rawalpindi and Lahore as his ‘blue-eyed’ project, and announced that the railway ministry was to sign contract on February 10 for carrying out the project’s feasibility study with Austrian and Spanish firms.
“Since railways is now marching towards running fast trains, we need 75 megawatts of electricity per annum, and for this purpose, have decided to set up five power stations in collaboration with the private sector. The private sector will be allowed to sell surplus power on the basis of equity,” he said.
Mr Ahmad also announced a project to realign the track between Sohawa and Dina, and said the Pakistan Railways Advisory and Consultancy Service (PRACS) would complete the feasibility study of the project in 40 days.
The realignment will help reduce a distance of 38km between Rawalpindi and Lahore and also enable trains to run at high speed, thereby reducing journey time by one hour. Realignment of the track will also pave way for the proposed bullet train project, he said.
A new chapter in the history of Pakistan Railways will open on Thursday (February 8) with the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of a commercial complex on railways’ land.
Pakistan Railways has leased one of its prime lands on I.I. Chundrigar Road in Karachi to the National Logistic Cell (NLC) at a cost of Rs2.3 billion for the construction of a 48-story commercial complex.
The minister said the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) had been awarded the contract for dualisation of railway track between Lahore and Karachi. This will eliminate 46 stations in between these two cities and considerably increase speed of trains.
He said the railway ministry would float tenders on February 28 for the construction of 55 low budget hotels on railways’ land. These hotels will be in addition to the planned five five- star hotels in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Multan. The project of five-star hotel in Lahore is in process.
