The upgrading of the Circular railway is going to start in October 2017 said Myanma Railway deputy general manager U Zaw Lwin, as part of the governents efforts to improve public transportation.
People wait for the circular railway train at Kyimyindaing train station in Yangon on July 5. Nyan Zay Htet / The Myanmar TimesPeople wait for the circular railway train at Kyimyindaing train station in Yangon on July 5. Nyan Zay Htet / The Myanmar Times
The upgrade would include installing of automatic signals, and acquiring brand new 66 DMEU carriages, according to Myanma Railway general manager U Htun Aung Thin.
It will be financed partly by a 24 billion yen (US$ 206 million/K280.77 billion) Japanese official development assistance (ODA), he added.
We can start upgrading works in October and we divided the circular railway into eastern and western parts, said U Zaw Lwin. The eastern part will include two segments, while the western part will be divided into three segments. We will start in the eastern side and hope to finish this part by May 2018.
The upgrade for the western part will start on October 2019, U Zaw Lwin said.
The Myanma Railway will shoulder the cost for the rehabilitation of the stations and the platforms.
We are conducting a survey for the upgrading. The first step will be repairing the railways, then the rehabilitation of platforms and stations, said U Zaw Lwin.
Yangons circle line is 46km long and has 38 stations. More than 73,000 passengers depend on rail transport every day in the city.
The circular train is the secondary mode of public transportation in Yangon, after the public bus system.
After the government implemented changes in the YBS, the number of passengers using the circular train has increased. Most of commuters who are in a hurry take the circular train. We want to make more improvements, U Htun Aung Thin added.
After the upgrade, a computer system will control the selling of tickets and the opening and closing of the gates in Kyimyidine, Insein, Danyingone, Minglardon stations. The system will also control the 11 gates at the junctions of railway tracks and car roads.
At present, Myanma Railways circular train is running with 28 carriages 215 times per day, carrying between 85,000 and 90,000 commuters.
Two locomotives on railway lines near a rural railway station. Photo: Phoe Khwar
The upgrading project for the Yangon circular train will be implemented on 1 October at a cost of over US$300 million, according to the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
The upgrade will increase comfort and safety and is scheduled to be completed in 2022, said an official from Myanmar Railway, which operates under the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
U Thurain Win, Managing Director of Myanmar Railway, said it is possible the project could be completed before 2022, but the finishing date was chosen in case there are difficulties.
The total cost for the project will be $301.29 million, with $94.76 million from Myanmar and $206.53 million in loans from a Japan fund.
The Myanmar Railway will use the national fund of $94.76 million for work upgrading stations, repairing railway, over-passes bridges and fences for platforms. The loans from Japan will be used to buy new diesels, train coaches and alarms for 25 car-crossing locations along the railway.
While upgrading the railway, people will not be faced with difficulties, officials said. Routes will run normally, with the work done mainly in the afternoon when there are fewer travellers, said U Tun Aung Lin, general manager of Myanmar Railway (lower Myanmar).
Upgrading for the east part 1 through Danyingone station to Paywet Sate Kone station, a distance of 7.25 miles, will be done from 1 October to 31 January 2018. For the east part 2 from Paywet Sate Kone station to Yangon (Pazundaung), a distance of 8.5 miles, the work will be done from 1 February 2018 to 31 May 2018.
For the west part 1 of Danyingone-Insein (3.75 miles) the work will be from 1 October to 31 December 2018. For the west part 2 of Insein-Kyimyindine (5.5 miles), the work will be performed from 1 January 2018 to 31 March 2019. For west part 3 of Kyimyindine-Yangon (2.75 miles) the work will be done from 1 April 2019 to 31 May 2019.
It currently takes about three hours for a passenger to ride the full circuit of the circular train, but this will be reduced by about one hour after the upgrade, officials said.
The upgrade will increase efficiency, and the new coaches will replace aging, dirty coaches.
We want the trains to be on time. As for good loaders and vendors, they need to throw their trash away systematically, said a train passenger.
There are 2.5 million passengers who commute daily in the Yangon Region, with most of the people depending on cars. But about 90,000 per day use the train.
The Myanmar Railway said they will try to increase train passengers from 90,000 to 263,000 by 2022. The current speed of the train is 15 kilometers per hour. In 2022, the speed of the train is expected to be 26 kilometers per hour for normal travel and 60 kilometers per hour for fast travel, said the Myanmar Railway.
The railway is 46 kilometers long, with 38 stations and 25 train coaches run in daily routes.
According to Myanma Railways and the Ministry of Transport and Communication, 18 Diesel-Electric Multiple Units (DEMU) train coaches ordered from Japan will arrive in Yangon in September 2020.
The new coaches 66 units in all, were bought using a loan from the Japanese government, to be used in the Yangon circular train line and other places in need. Japanese loans amounting to US$206.53 million will be used for the purchase of the 66 coaches and for installing advanced signal systems at 25 level crossings along the circular train route, according to Myanma Railway.
Trains ordered from Japan will arrive here in two batches. Eighteen coaches will arrive in the first batch in September 2020, with the remaining units to arrive in 2021. Moreover, works for upgrading level crossings along the circular railways will be implemented using the loan from the Japanese government, with the aid of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), said U Ba Myint, Senior General Manager of Myanma Railways.
Myanma Railways will carry out the project of upgrading the Yangon Circular Train Rails by investing $300 million in order to provide a more convenient, safer and better traveling experience very soon, it was learnt. The Yangon Circular Train route is over 46 kilometers, with 38 railway stations. Myanmar Railways runs trains in 25 shifts daily. The project of upgrading the Yangon Circular Train will be launched with Myanmars investment US$94.76 million and the Japan loan amounting to US$206.53 million. Myanma Railways will carry out the tasks of renovation of railways, aged tracks, overpasses, platforms and fencing walls, it was learnt. In Yangon Region, there are 2.5 million people commuting daily, on various types of transport. Most rely upon buses, with 900,000 commuting by train every day.
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