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Showing posts with label mass transit services. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mass transit services. Show all posts

Sunday, 25 October 2015

07:58

Sri Lanka to Issue RFP for Colombo Monorail

Sri Lanka to Issue RFP for Colombo Monorail

Colombo: Upul Jayasuriya, Chairman of the Board of Investment, has stated that Sri Lanka’s new government is about to issue an RFP in the next 10 days for building “a monorail or Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system” for the capital Colombo.

In a separate statement the Director General of the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development Luxman Jayasekara has stated that the ministry is looking into the feasibility of constructing a monorail line from Malabe to Kotahena.

Upal JayasuriyaThe previous project (Line 1 from Malabe to Colombo Fort and Line 2 from Colombo Fort to Moratuwa) had been shelved by former Transport Minister Ranjith Maddumabandara, because of “too expensive”.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency, which has helped develop the transportation master plan, had estimated the project cost at 1.9 Billion US$.

Sri Lanka’s investment promotion bureau said that the government plans to make a request for proposals this month to build a monorail or mass rapid transit system (MRT) that spreads out from Colombo Fort.

“RFPs for the monorail project will be out within a week,” said Upul Jayasuriya on Monday at a forum organized by the Sri Lanka – Germany Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

“It will be either monorail or a MRT and we have not confirmed yet for which the investment going to be made. It will all depend on the proposals and cost effectiveness,”

“At the moment the government is looking at it with an open mind.”

Although monorail typically requires public investment due to the difficulty in covering investment costs, the BOI appears to be calling for private sector proposals in the hope of settling for a public-private partnership.

He said the project has been estimated to cost 1.9 billion US dollars by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. JICA’s transportation plan envisages monorail from Malabe to Colombo Fort and to Colombo North.

BOI expectations are for the monorail or the MRT to be built from Moratuwa to Colombo Fort, Baththaramulla to Colombo Fort and Negombo to Colombo Fort.

The project will take four years to be completed, Jayasuriya said.

He added that the project will be done on a build-operate-transfer basis with “no financial drain on the government.”
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Friday, 10 July 2015

21:18

RBI allows Mass Transit Operators to issue their Pre-paid Cards

RBI allows Mass Transit Operators to issue their Pre-paid Cards

Mass Transit System operators such as Indian Railways, Mumbai Metro, Delhi Metro, Indian Railways and even local buses can now issue their pre-paid cards

Mumbai: Mass Transit System operators such as Mumbai Metro, Delhi Metro, Indian Railways and even local buses can now issue their pre-paid cards- a move that will provide ease to the commuters.

On Thursday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that mass transit system operators (MTS) has now issue a pre-paid cards wherein a customer stocks some money that can be swiped on machines instead of standing in long queues to purchase travel tickets. As of now, some of the MTS have issued pre-paid cards in partnership with banks.

The RBI has said that the balance in the card issued by PPI- MTS should not exceed Rs.2000 at any point of time. Also, MTS would not be allowed to refunds cash that is stocked in the PPI. The card should have a minimum validity of six months from the date of issue. The pre-paid cards can be used at other merchants whose activities are allied to or activities that within the premises of the transit system.

The regulator had received requests from various segments, including providers of mass transit services, such as, metro train and road transport services, indicating the need for PPIs catering to the requirements of this segment to enhance commuter convenience.

RBI said that the move to allow MTS to issue their own cards was to encourage electronic payments. “In the process of moving from cash based payments to electronic payments, the migration of micro and small value cash payments can play a significant role in achieving the vision of less-cash society. One such area where a large number of small value cash payments take place relates to mass transit systems,” RBI said issuing the new norms.

The RBI said that pre-paid payment instruments (PPI) by MTS operators will be a new category of semi-closed PPI which will have to be authorised under Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. As of now only few banks like State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank which has issued contactless card in tie-up with MTS operators.
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Saturday, 30 May 2015

08:10

RBI allows mass transit Metro Rail operators to issue their own pre-paid cards

RBI allows mass transit Metro Rail operators to issue their own pre-paid cards

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to allow mass transit metro rail system operators like Mumbai Metro or Delhi Metro to issue their own pre-paid cards. As of now, the metro rail operators needs to tie-up with few banks to issue pre-paid cards which enables customer to tap and pay for transit rather than standing in long queues to buy tickets before travelling.

The draft norm issued by RBI on Thursday says that pre-paid payment instruments (PPI) by metro rail operators operators will be a new category of semi-closed PPI which will have to be authorised under Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

Giving a rational for this, RBI said that it has been receiving requests from various segments, including providers of mass transit services, such as, metro train and road transport services, indicating the need for PPIs catering to the requirements of this segment to enhance commuter convenience. It further said that the migration of micro and small value cash payments to electronic payments can play a significant role in achieving the vision of less-cash society and metro rail operators is one such area, where a large number of small value cash payments take place.

The regulator has suggested that PPI – metro rail operators can be used at other merchants whose activities are allied to or are carried on within the premises of the transit system only.

As of now only few banks like State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank which has issued contactless card in tie-up with metro rail operators. The RBI has said that the balance in the card issued by PPI- metro rail operators should not exceed Rs 2000 at any point of time. Further, no cash out or refund may be permitted from these PPIs. The card will have minimum validity of six months from the date of issue. The new category of semi-closed PPI-metro rail operators will also be applicable for local railways and local buses who can issue their own cards enabling easy payment of small value payments.
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