Prof Dr Irfan Hyder

Metro Transport Infrastructure of Hong Kong and Detractors of Metro for Pakistan

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I just returned from Hong Kong. I was astounded to see the metro bus-train infrastructure and roads infrastructure with elevated expressways and flyovers constructed not only in city areas but also on sea and between islands. There are over 15000 buses plying on over 500 routes. Crisscrossing the islands were 11 train lines with such heavy use. I often saw several routes buses on the same bus stop. Not to speak of was the ferry service between the islands. There is no need for residents to own cars living in the congested city areas.

Here are some statistics:

Hong Kong services some 12.6 million passengers daily, and manages up to 90 percent of all daily journeys, the highest rate in the world. Despite the city’s high density and lack of space, the service runs smoothly, promptly, and at a reasonable price point for passengers. Read more here.
Opened in 1979, MTR system now includes 218.2 km (135.6 mi) of rail with 161 stations, including 93 railway stations and 68 light rail stops. Bus services have a long history in Hong Kong. As of 2015, five companies operate franchised public bus services, each granted ten-year exclusive operating rights to the set of routes that they operate.[11] Franchise buses altogether carry about one-third of the total daily public transport market of around 12,000,000 passengers, with KMB having 67% of the franchised bus market share, CityBus with 16% and New World First Bus with 13%.[12]

This kind of infrastructure is even unparalleled in all USA cities in terms of speed, coverage, cleanliness, maintenance and frequency.
I have been marveling at the Spanish metro bus infrastructure. But the frequency in Hong Kong and the coverage was much higher. Istanbul also has a very good infrastructure, which Punjab tried to copy during its metro construction drive in the three cities.

I felt like crying on naivety of many decent people who have been opposing such an infrastructure for Pakistan because of their blind hatred against a politician and their mindless following of the their political favorite. It appears that either they have not gone abroad or have not observed the benefits.

Metro train systems in India:
Read this and you will agree that detractors of Urban metro trains must be fed by agents who do not want development in Pakistan. India has gained tremendously through the Urban infrastructure development but foreign agents have been trying to destabilize Pakistan and have found the propaganda against this development by the naive political followers of PTI.   They need to read this coverage of metro trains in India.

“There are currently 11 operational rapid transit (also called ‘metro’) systems in ten cities in India. As of November 2017, India has 425 kilometres (264 miles) of operational metro lines and 347 stations. A further 500+ km of lines are under construction.
In 2006, the National Urban Transport Policy proposed the construction of a metro rail system in every city with a population of 20 lakh (2 million).[3] On 11 August 2014, Union Government announced that it would provide financial assistance, for the implementation of a metro rail system, to all Indian cities having a population of more than 1 million.[4][5]
Ridership on India’s suburban railways has risen from 1.2 million in 1970–71 to 4.4 million in 2012–13. The suburban railways of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai account for about 7.1% of the Indian Railways 20819.3 million train kilometres but contribute 53.2% of all railway passengers.[2] In some cities of India, the opening of rapid transit systems have led to a decline in the use of the suburban rail system.” [Wikipedia]

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