High Speed Trains in Pakistan

[Multani]

Firstly government should provide to people basic needs ..............

yes, this is essential. However, having a faster train service does not mean this essentiality has been sidelined. It is always there, and will be there for the near future.The basic needs question will be present unless there be revolution in business and investment.

Aviation and the current railways causes a lot of pollution. We can take the example of Singapore. A faster train service like @Pakistanisage mentioned will be so beneficial to the mddle business-person, it will be ideal in growth for business parks. People will no longer be thronging on to the big cities. Population increase in the big cities can be curtailed. People can live in the smaller cities as they would be like greater extensions of the big cities.

Pakistani Punjab is much like Korea.

I agree, but with the improvement of the highways in Punjab and Motorways, people can easily travel by car. More and more people are able to buy them. So railways will always remain on the backburner. I enjoy driving on the roads in Punjab. Just a different feel to it.

I am not against cars, but public or private transport systems can reduce pollution. Long-term issues. Giving more fertile land to new road-space. Faster trains can take up the existing railway tracks.

 

[Multani]

Every thing is possible... any project can be set up in Pakistan.. only thing needed is the new younger management not the old fart who will not hire any one for not having experience in years... transportation is very important part in economy and so is hospital.. but that does not mean we should curse some who at least spend some money on public transport rather then taking it all in his pocket and not making hospital. And For Funds it can be arranged if sincere people manage it through islamic banking with no or fixed interest rates. Pakistan should always on every project or fund must check it by Auditing it for every penny. only then investor will come.. it will make way for higher returns.

Best way for fund is make sure overseas Pakistanis can invest in any project with guaranteed safety for their money and higher rate of return for them.

excellent post Kiyani Sahib

During a feasibility study conducted in India (Amritsar to Delhi) , the cost of laying 1 Km of track was 33 Crore INR.( 2008 ).

Now do the maths .

what is your point here in this thread? why did you make that comment?

Well a while ago nawaz sharif government signed a MOU with china on a bullet train but i don,t know when that project is going to start.Also that bullet won,t cover the whole pakistan.
Well on the other side i don,t think our illiterate and ill mannered population deserve such kind of trains.

That means you want Pakistanis to change, and deserve better! There is a lot of positivity hidden in what you said, you know.

Really? How much? Check out the costs involved:

French railways spent $37 million per mile on the high speed line from Paris to Strasbourg, which opened in 2007. The Frankfurt to Cologne line cost $100 million per mile and HS1 $135 million per mile. HS2 will work out to $200 million per mile!!

Taking an average of $50 million per mile, Islamabad to Peshawar, a distance of 120 miles would cost $6 billion!! Or Rs 60,000 crores PKR!!

That's a lot of money. It won't be cost effective at all considering that ordinary folk would be using it and cannot afford to pay the exorbitant fares that would almost be the same as air fares.

why are you posting here? what is the point of your cost analysis for Pakistan and Pakistanis?

OP will pay in wet dreams currency
On topic first concern should be improving the frieght infra of PR

look at these indians. They are burning in jealousy.

 

[HAIDER]

Well,,,,its like..

 

[my2cents]

With due respect, that would not be the case. Such a Project will have to be run commercially and it will only be viable as a commercial Project.

Now let's look at the objections raised by the Butthurt Indian trollers.

First of all this is not going to be an expensive project as claimed by these idiots because they don't understand the difference between a High Speed Train at the low spectrum of 125 MPH and one above 150 mph.

If we go for the high speed trains travelling at 125 MPH , the cost is minimal as we can use existing tracks with minor upgrade as opposed to 150 MPH HSR's which would require laying new tracks which can be quite expensive. Also keep in mind that the upgrade is only for short distances ( Lahore - Islamabad distance is only 236 Statute miles )

.

I think the confusion is because you have been keep switching between miles per hour and km per hour. 125 MPH is about 200 km/hr and 150 MPH is equal to 320 km/hr. I think you meant 125 km/hr which is doable with high power diesel locos and track upgrades.

 

[HAIDER]

I think the confusion is because you have been keep switching between miles per hour and km per hour. 125 MPH is about 200 km/hr and 150 MPH is equal to 300 km/hr. I think you meant 125 km/hr which is doable with high power diesel locos and track upgrades.

I think Pak track can take only 100 km.hr

 

[Multani]

not possible for pakistan for atleast next 10-15 years.....
heck...even in india this seems a difficult plan.....
paistan don't have money and too much terrorism ...what if TTP decided to blow up a railline ..what will happen ..millions of dollars will be lost and numerable life ...not to say if this is for elites then elites will be killed deeply affecting the business of pakistan.....

was this comment necessary in this thread?

Pehle low speed train to chala do phir high ki baatein karna

My countrymen underestimate themselves so much.
There is pessimism everywhere. This is not helpful.

Yar Allah ka wasta hai apnay app ko USA/ JAPAN say compare kerna chor do. Education to abhi tak poray mulk main ponchi nahe hai. High Speed Rail Chaye kyun Kay JAPAN Kay pass hai. Wah

ham unche khaab kiyun naa sochein?

 

[Multani]

Lets go one realistic step at a time.

• Lets get the trains running first.
• Lets get Pakistan Railways back into black first.
• Lets improve railway infrastructure first
• Lets get something called customer service.

Small steps that are very much achievable. Those countries that have excellent train services, not all of them have high speed trains. Amtrak standard speed is 160 Km/h. Its high speed Acela train tops 240 Km/h. Thats not high speed by European standards.

Amtrak - About Amtrak - Facts & Services - National Fact Sheet

If you have ever seen a 160 Km/h passenger train whizzing past a platform, you will realize its a lot of speed. Our trains are capped at 110 km/h but with the age of track and engines, thats not realizable.

that's incremental innovation. Why not revolutionary innovation. Why not replace the whole railway system?

 

[MastanKhan]

I agree, but with the improvement of the highways in Punjab and Motorways, people can easily travel by car. More and more people are able to buy them. So railways will always remain on the backburner. I enjoy driving on the roads in Punjab. Just a different feel to it.

Hi,

No it won't---people want comfort and safety. As a young man I also loved to drive---even though we had free A/C class passes to travel. People with families and luggage need transportation---and nothing like a train. Our express train service used to be pretty good.

They would run on time---they were reliable---you could get food and you could walk around if you got tired of sitting---and the best thing was---you see your country---.

Trains are the backbone of the economy. There was a time in the u s when they thought that the trains were done---but they are still going strong.

 

[KingMamba]

Now, a Muslim putting up a DP of Buddha is blasphemy, isn't it? Or maybe @Pakistanisage is an Ahmadiyya who believes that Buddha was of the prophets of Allah. Are you an Ahmadiyya @Pakistanisage ?

I know it is going to be hard for you yindu but try to stop being retarded.

 

[MastanKhan]

Hi,

There was a time that the railway station had those huge posters---with a man running to catch a train and his food flying out of the Tiffin box ---the caption read----TRAINS AND TIME DON'T WAIT FOR ANYONE.

That is how punctual our train service was till the 80's---. Unless there was a mishap---the trains would hit the station right at time within minutes of scheduled arrival.

Pakistani Patriot Act needs to cover and protect the railways and all transportation assets. The problem we had with american diesel locomotives was that the technicians in the service yard would steal the generators / traction motors and sell the copper to the junkyard----and nobody cared.

 

[Donatello]

Hi,

No it won't---people want comfort and safety. As a young man I also loved to drive---even though we had free A/C class passes to travel. People with families and luggage need transportation---and nothing like a train. Our express train service used to be pretty good.

They would run on time---they were reliable---you could get food and you could walk around if you got tired of sitting---and the best thing was---you see your country---.

Trains are the backbone of the economy. There was a time in the u s when they thought that the trains were done---but they are still going strong.

For US Trains don't offer the economics unless you are travelling long routes. Nothing like a 4 loco in front and 4 in the back pushing coal cross country. But Passenger trains are a mess. Unless you are travelling between big cities, it's not good. I always preferred roads in USA over trains. You want to really appreciate railways, you need to ride in Europe. Man these people know how to move people on time. But then again, most nations are small so rapid, high speed trains offer better economics than road. It can take 7 hours to go from North East England to London by road, Trains do that in 3 and half hours. The best thing is that even small towns here have access to railways. Not cheap, but it is very convenient.

Pakistan is much smaller than USA, or even India where railways is the backbone, and with the advent of better roads, Railways has continued to decline. I agree that Pakistan Railways was good back in the day. Even in the 1990s i used to travel a lot on them. Saw Sindh and Punjab through the windows of Tez Gam, Shah Rukne Alam, Khyber Mail etc. But now it's just all gone. Corruption has creeped in everywhere. At one time a job in the Railways was actually a very respectable job. But oh well. PIA had it's golden days as well till 1990s. Then it all went downhill from there. Now i can actually drive from Karachi to Lahore in less than 18 hours, but trains take too long. You never know when it will break down.

To summarize, trains have personality that even Air travel doesn't.

 

[my2cents]

I think Pak track can take only 100 km.hr

Currently, the fastest train in India is the Bhopal Shatabdi, which has a top speed of 160 km/h (99 mph)

In India we did a feasibility study on the cost of upgrades for high speed trains supporting speeds upto 200km/hr. It is estimated that a dedicated high speed corridor would cost about 100 crore rupees per km.

It concluded that we would have to raise the cost of travel to Rs 5 / km just to recoup our costs. So a 500 km journey would cost about Rs 2500 which could be prohibitive for most Indian travellers. Few High-speed corridors have been proposed because of their viability like Mumbai to Pune and Amritsar to Delhi etc.

Are Pakistani travellers ready to shell out this kind of money for train journey??

India and Pakistan advantage is our population density and disadvantage is paying capacity.

@Pakistanisage

 

[dexter]

Pakistan should have a High Speed Train connecting Peshawar, Islamabad, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Lahore, Sahiwal, Multan and Bhawalpur. Daily service once or twice a day depending on demand.

Any Suggestions Guys.....




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@Jazzbot , @Fahad Khan 2 , @batmannow , @Janbaz , @MastanKhan , @Talon , @Marshmallow , @waz

@DESERT FIGHTER , @Patriots , @Rashid Mahmood , @dexter , @KingMamba , @Secularpakistani

@PiyaraPakistan , @rockstar08 , @Leader ,

Well bro we are still using railway tracks built by British and also have shortage of train engines so going for high speed train is not possible !
I am a civil engineer and i know how much we lack in infrastructure related to transportation so we need a lot of money for that but i appreciate your views for better Pakistan

 

[SHAMK9]

.I am afraid that Pakistan might overtake India in economic growth rate from next year.Lets wait and see what happens.

If true, good for us, all the hardships of last few years being paid off.

 

[MastanKhan]

Hi,

It is not only the passenger part but also the transportaion of cargo---cargo is where the trains make the money. For progresss---pakistan needs to have solid railroad transport system.

Our passenger trains are always going to run packed----the only variable to control is corruption---stop the corruption( including theft and proper maintenance and management ) bring it under the umbrella of pakistani patriot act---and have judicious and expeditious punishments.

Summary execution of those caught and being invovled in sabotaging railway property---that includes theft of equipment, bribes, and other forms of corruption.

Every thing is doable---it only depends upon the pakistani---when and what he wants to do about it.

Well bro we are still using railway tracks built by British and also have shortage of train engines so going for high speed train is not possible !
I am a civil engineer and i know how much we lack in infrastructure related to transportation so we need a lot of money for that but i appreciate your views for better Pakistan

Hi,

The problem now is that we donot have enough diesel locomotives---. Those that we have are over used, abused, a lack of maintenance and being chinese are of poor quality---. All these problems cause these locomotives to break down more often.

Untill and unless the pakistanis don't take ownership of their country and its assets, it is all up in the air.

I think Pak track can take only 100 km.hr

Hi,

With a not a lot of effort and some very good maintenance it will take 75 to 90 MPH---and that is a feasible speed on these tracks---