Tenders to upgrade the Yangon-Mandalay railway will be open for bids in early 2017 in Japan, said U Tun Aung Thin, a general manager from Myanma Railway (Lower Myanmar office).
Upgrading of this railway track is slated to be completed in the 2019-2020 fiscal year. The aim of putting out tender bids in Japan is to invite experienced companies from Japan who will build the tracks to meet international criteria. This project will be provided by the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA).
There are three different railway routes that are part of the upgrading project on the Yangon-Mandalay railway: Yangon-Toungoo, Toungoo-Yamethin and Yamethin-Mandalay. The estimated cost of the project is about US$1,700million. Under the first phase, the upgrading of the Yangon-Toungoo railway track will be carried out, with an estimated cost of US$200million.
After the whole project is completed, the Yangon-Mandalay rail journey is expected to take eight hours, it is learnt.
Commuters are struggling to ride a circular train at Yangon Railway Station.
The number of circular trains will be increased for the convenience of passengers during the time when passengers are becoming accustomed to the new YBS bus lines, said the traffic manager from Division 7 of Myanma Railways.
Currently, over 80,000 people are using the circular trains in Yangon daily.
But the number of passengers taking circular trains has increased by over 16,000 beginning from 16 January. Myanma Railways now has three more trains for the six routes from Yangon to Toe Kyaung Galay and from Insein to Yangon.
Myanma Railways is upgrading the rail roads for the passengers to travel more conveniently with the circular trains.
Normally, Myanma Railways has 23 trains that make 215 round trips daily.
Myanmar will receive a 93.97-billion yen (US$824 million) soft loan from Japan for five infrastructure development projects.
The MoU was signed by Deputy Minister for Planning and Finance Ministry U Maung Maung Win and the Japanese ambassador to Myanmar, Tateshi Higuchi, last week.
The Regional Development Project for Poverty Reduction (Phase II) will receive 23.979 billion yen ($210 million), the Yangon-Mandalay railway upgrade project 25 billion yen ($219 million), the Yangon Region Water Supply System project 25 billion yen ($219 million), the Cities Electricity Distribution System Development project 4.856 billion Yen ($43 million) and the Agricultural sector and Rural Development project 15.135 billion yen ($133 million), respectively.
The Regional Development Project for Poverty Reduction (Phase II) is meant for building infrastructure for supplying electricity, water and transportation in rural areas and for the development of rural socio-economy.
The project is primarily aimed at improving the living standards of rural people, supporting development and alleviating poverty.
The Yangon-Mandalay railway upgrade will involve the installation of tracks for new carriages. The upgrade will ensure improved and faster rail travel to boost economic development in Myanmar.
The Yangon Region Water Supply System Project will improve the operation of the Koukawa river water pumping system to raise the living standards of residents.
The Cities Electricity Distribution System Development project will improve the national grids in both cities and villages. This, in turn, will support economic development in the region.
Under the Agricultural sector and Rural Development Project, farmers will be given loans through the Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank to help develop and modernise the farming sector.
The loan, at an interest rate of 0.01 percent, is for a period of 40 years.
Myanmar Railways is going to seek a five-million-euro (US$5.3 million) loan from KfW Development Bank of Germany for a project to upgrade the Ywa Htaung rail engine factory, Uni0n Minister for Ministry of Transportation and Communications U Thant Sin Maung said at Pyidaungsu Hluttaw session on February 17.
According to the loan agreement between the two parties, terms and conditions include a 40-year loan term including a 10-year grace period and 30-year payback period with an interest rate of 0.75 percent per annum.
Work will include upgrading Germany-made diesel hydraulic engines, heavy maintenance of existing and installation of new underfloor wheel lathes and upgrading of railway training school, said U Thant Sin Maung.
Deputy Minister for Ministry of Planning and Finance U Maung Maung Win recommended this loan for the approval of Pyidaungsu Hluttaw as it is a loan with a low interest rate.
The Ywa Htaung diesel engine factory upgrade project will enable the modification of Germany-made engines running in the Mandalay-Myitkyina section.
The project will bring about benefits like expansion of on-schedule and reliable local train services to rural people, better safety measures in preventing derailment, high-quality performance in repairing passenger and freight coaches, providing officials and non-officials from electrical engineering departments with access to systematic, theoretical and practical learning of modern repair and modification technologies, and many more, the Uni0n minister added.
President U Htin Kyaw sought the approval from Pyidaungsu Hluttaw on February 15 for this five-million-euro loan from Germany, according to Section 10 of the Uni0n Budget Law and Section 3 of Public Debt Management Law.
This matter will be discussed by Hluttaw Representatives at Pyidaungsu Hluttaw session to be held on February 22.
MYANMAR: CRRC Dalian has shipped a further pair of locomotives to Myanma Railways, and has now supplied the national railway with more than 50 locomotives ordered in five batches.
The metre-gauge Type CKD7B design is customised for local conditions in Myanmar. The 100 km/h locomotives have three two-axle bogies, with the Bo-Bo-Bo arrangement designed to cope with poor track conditions, steep gradients and tight curves down to 62 m radius.
The appearance of the locomotives is graceful and solemn, full of retro style, according to the manufacturer.
The January 2017 issue of Railway Gazette International magazine included an in-depth report from Peter Janssen in Yangon looking at how Myanma Railways is concentrating on key projects as it seeks to consolidate its network in response to a dramatic drop in traffic and revenue. Subscribers can read the article in the digital archive.
When installed, the cables will enable high speed data transfers between MR offices, which will result in shorter journey times for commuters.
The invitation of EOI is only for local companies with individual network facility service licenses, according to an official from Myanma Railways logistic department.
Its the initial stages of the tender, were just calling an EOI and the tender invitation will follow soon after. Those companies to emerge from the EOI stage will then have the chance to bid, said the official.
The tender winner will be selected based on whether their companys performance and background matches our criteria, the official added.
Myanmar has over 6,000 kilometers of railway with 39 primary branch lines and over 900stations.
The project will include the installation of data transfer cables along three target areas: the railroad from Yangon to Mawlamyine, Yangon to Pyay, and Mawlamyine to Dawei.
We are going to upgrade our communication cables to fibre which will enable a much faster transmission of data compared to the current facilities, the official said The Ministry of Transport and Communication has provided 118 individual network facilities service licenses for 31 local firms and 10 foreign firms, according to their statistics.
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