Wai Linn Kyaw/MBT
A train car of Myanma Railways is seen on rail tracks near Pansodan. The Myanma Railways aims to introduce electric trains to service downtown areas by this year.
A Pilot survey is being carried out along Strand road between Htawligway in Ahlone township to Linsadaung in Botahtaung township. The building of necessary infrastructure is set to start this month, the official said.
We have undertaken this project to make public transportation more convenient for the people. We selected Strand road for the pilot run because this road has heavy traffic. If the project succeeds and if people think that it is useful we will expand it between other stations, the official, who asked not to be named because he wasnt authorised to speak to the media, told Myanmar Business Today.
He said Japan is going to provide the required technology, while local technicians will be trained to handle the operations.
Three electric trains have been ordered from Japan and the train cars are set to arrive in August. Two of these trains will be run and the third will be kept as a spare.
In the future, the project may get extended from Htawligway to Kyimyindaing and from Linsadaung to Pazundaung stations. If the project is successful, the electric train may as well be used on Yangons famous circular track.
The official, however, quashed concerns about the power supply that is required to run an electric train, while Yangon grapples with relentless power cuts.
People should not be too concerned regarding the power usage of electric trains. The amount of [power] required is equivalent to the power needed for a small ward. We are in discussions with the Ministry of Electricity to ensure the power supply.
RANGOON Burmas Ministry of Rail Transportation has partnered with Japans West Corporation to launch an electric commuter tramcar line in downtown Rangoon in efforts to tackle traffic congestion in the countrys commercial capital.
Phase one of the project will run along an existing route on Strand Road from Pansodan in Pabedan Township to Htawlikwe in Ahlone Township, and is expected to be operational by early October of this year.
The second phase will run from Pansodan to lin Sadaung in Botahtaung Township, and should launch in December, the ministry said.
West Corporation is a global trading company supplying railroad cars and hardware from Japan.
The ministrys Director Thaung Lwin said the initial rollout was planned for Strand Road as a pilot project due to its long reach and lack of flyovers. If successful, more tram cars could be installed in other parts of the city.
We will have to consider avoiding overhead bridges for this project, thats why we chose Strand Road first, Thaung Lwin said.
Strand Road passes through several of the citys busiest townships, running alongside the Rangoon River. In 2011, the road was upgraded by the Yangon City Development Committee in partnership with domestic conglomerate Asia World Group.
The redevelopment included widening the throughway and installing a dual track railway spanning nine kilometers (5.6 miles) from Botahtaung to Kyimyindaing townships.
Thaung Lwin said initial works will focus on installing electrical lines along the length of the route to power the trains, though he did not detail how the ministry will ensure uninterrupted service in the city, which experiences frequent power shortages throughout much of the year.
Tun Aung Thin, general manager of state-owned implementing partner Myanmar Railways, said the project is already underway, commencing swiftly after the signing of an MoU on Monday.
Earlier this year, Tun Aung Thin estimated that some 2.5 million commuters enter Rangoon daily for work and trade, about 100,000 of them arriving through ports along Strand Road from Dala Township and Irrawaddy Division.
Once in Rangoon, transport times are often infuriating as an influx of cars following the relaxation of import regulations in 2011 led to cluttered roads filled to the brim with taxis, private vehicles and buses.
The new electric tram project is one of several proposals by the city government and urban planning experts to relieve the citys congestion, though some have argued that the project will do little to curb the problem.
Urban planner Than Moe doubts the effectiveness of the costly plan, urging the government to think about who will benefit from this, and who will pay the costs.
He recommended instead upgrading the citys circular train line, which is used daily by farmers from various townships bringing their goods to market, and improving connectivity between the train and city buses.
The weakness is the government hasnt considered connecting the train and bus stops, Than Moe said, suggesting that if there are connections, people will take the trains.
The existing railway along Strand Road currently serves mainly as a transit route for cargo, with about 300 trains traversing the line monthly to move goods from Rangoons ports.
Late last year, Myanmar Railways began operating a commuter train along the rail in an attempt to curb congestion, though Than Moe said the line is unlikely to dramatically reduce traffic as it doesnt serve the densest transit routes.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will invest US$250 million to upgrade Yangons circular railway and has also proposed building two underground railway lines, as well as a light rapid transit system to improve the flow of traffic around the city.
Yangons circular train is in for an upgrade as part of JICAs ambitious plans for Yangon transit. Photo: Aung Htay Hlaing / The Myanmar TimesYangons circular train is in for an upgrade as part of JICAs ambitious plans for Yangon transit. Photo: Aung Htay Hlaing / The Myanmar Times
Such large-scale infrastructure investment is necessary, as Yangons population is projected to double from 5.1 million to 10 million by 2040 or 1.5 million more people than are currently living in Bangkok, said Shigehiko Sugita, deputy director of JICAs Southeast Asia and Pacific Department, to The Myanmar Times.
Unless drastic action is taken to upgrade the citys creaking infrastructure, in five years time residents are likely to look back with nostalgia on the traffic jams of today, according to JICA research, which forecasts that vehicle use in Yangon could rise 22-fold over the next 25 years.
Bangkok didnt develop proper urban transport which is why it is so congested, said Mr Sugita. The good news is that Yangon like London or Tokyo or Moscow already has a circle line. This shows potential.
On July 4, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to modernise Yangons 46-kilometre (28-mile) circular railway and committed to a $250 million soft loan. The Japanese government, through JICA, will upgrade the infrastructure, including new trains and signalling, said Mr Sugita. Myanma Railways will be responsible for upgrading the track and tendering the existing 38 stations for redevelopment.
In the longer-term, however, Yangon faces a much bigger problem. Even if the circular railway is upgraded to an international standard with fast and frequent trains, it will not be able to support a population of more than 10 million, said Mr Sugita.
Beyond this, there are three main options Light Rapid Transport (LRT) such as a tram or a monorail, Metro Rapid Transport (MRT) and Bus Rapid Transport (BRT), he said.
In our Yangon comprehensive masterplan we have proposed all three, but we cannot do all of them at once. BRT is the easiest to start with as you can just use the existing route.
In May, the government announced a modern bus system called BRT Lite based on a 2013 plan by JICA, which will be funded through a public-private partnership. New bus lanes will be laid out and new buses imported.
Myanma Railways believes the city needs another railway line, said Mr Sugita, adding that the authority had the idea of installing a monorail from the north to the south of the city, along the western bank of Inya Lake.
JICA is also supporting a new tram line from Kyeemindaing to Strand Hotel. After this pilot project we will extend the line, and we are considering perhaps building a small circular tram line. LRT is easier and cheaper than MRT but it will also not be sufficient to support the entire population, said Mr Sugita.
It costs roughly three times more to build an underground railway than to build a monorail, he said, but in the longer term an MRT would yield much better results. They built an LRT in Manila and its very crowded. Its worse than Japan. So in Yangon we are also pushing for an MRT its much stronger, he said.
We would like to build two metro lines one from the north to the south of Yangon and another from east to west, as well as a line to Dala and to Thilawa, he added.
JICA may consider funding an MRT the master plan is now under discussion, he said, adding that Korea and China are also interested and that both countries have already put forward proposals to the government.
In the meantime, work on the circle line upgrade will begin in 2016, following a year of planning, and the entire project is due for completion in 2020, said Mr Sugita.
The first stage of the upgrade will cover the track running through the most densely populated part of the city, from Danyingone in western Yangon to the central railway station downtown. JICA will also offer technical assistance for an extension of the circular railway which will run to the Thilawa special economic zone to the southeast of Yangon.
Our target is for air conditioned trains to run every 10 minutes, at an average speed of 30 kilometres [19 miles] per hour, he said the same average speed as trains in Tokyo. Trains will be able to run up to a maximum of 80km per hour. Currently in Yangon, rickety trains without air conditioning or cushioned seats run every 10 to 40 minutes, at an average speed of 15km.
Initially JICA considered an elevated railway. But we failed, as the centre of Yangon is on a hill and the soil is very weak. We would have had to dig 40 to 50 metres into the ground every 100m to support the track, which would have been too expensive, said Mr Sugita.
For the circular railway upgrade, too, there are several challenges to overcome. For example, residents living along the side of the tracks have been asked to make way. There are some houses and vegetable plantations very close to the track. The residents wont have to move to a new location, but we have asked them to move back, he said.
However, unlike in cities such as Manila and Phnom Penh, because the railway tracks are already in place relatively few people will need to move, he said. Still, we have discussed the social considerations with Myanma Railways.
Myanma Railways initially wanted the trains to be electrified but, while this is the long-term plan, the trains will initially run on diesel. Electrification is the future goal, but if we did this now and there were still houses without power there would be some conflict, so Myanma Railways was kind enough to give up the idea, said Mr Sugita.
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