Urban transport: LTC to get storage tanks for supply on gas holidays

20 new CNG buses arrive, pressure on gas supply increases.

LAHORE:

The Lahore Transport Company (LTC) is planning to import bowsers in which to store gas for use by buses on the three days a week that CNG stations are closed, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The LTC had asked the federal government to allow a few CNG stations to remain open from Monday to Wednesday so its CNG buses could continue running on these days. At the inauguration of a new bus service in the city earlier this month, LTC Chairman Khawaja Hassaan said that he was hopeful that they would get an exception on the gas holidays.

However, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) told the company recently that no relief would be given to the urban transport sector because there was a shortage and all CNG stations would remain closed on the gas holidays.

The LTC is now hoping to get around that restriction by importing large high pressure storage containers, called bowsers, and filling them up on days when gas is available. On gas holidays, the CNG buses would get filled up from the bowsers.

However, it is not clear whether, given the gas shortage, the LTC will have its way.

Gas pressure

The LTC subsidises bus transport in the city to the tune of Rs1,250 per bus, per day (calculated when the price of diesel was around Rs60 per litre). Buses operating on CNG are cheaper to run and require less subsidy, which is why the company is pushing CNG transport.

Tanvir Siddiqi, LTC’s senior operations manager, said that the company hoped to outsource the project to import Mats bowsers and use them as the gas shortage would grow more acute as the winter sets in and temperatures drop. He said the tanks would be able to store 1,500kg of high pressure gas. He said they hoped to bring in 10 bowsers, at a cost of around Rs80 million, which would keep around 200 buses running on gas holidays. He said that bus companies were keen on the project.

Siddiqi said that the LTC had hoped to open CNG stations for buses only, but the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) was not allowing any new licences for CNG stations or any stations to remain open on gas holidays. He said that the LTC had sought approval for the project from the SNGPL in writing. He said that he did not believe Ogra would have any objection to the project as the bowsers that the LTC would import would be of a high quality, better than some approved by the regulator.

“We have told them to get permission from Ogra,” said SNGPL Managing Director Arif Hameed. “But if Ogra asks us, we would not recommend such a step because there is a gas shortage.”

Ogra Member (Gas) Mansoor Muzaffar said that the LTC would need to go through an approval procedure. First, the project bowsers would have to be examined by the chief inspector (explosions). Then there would be a public hearing. “If the LTC management passes these procedures they will be allowed to use the bowsers for gas storage,” he said.

20 new buses

Speaking on Saturday at the inauguration of 20 new buses for the First Bus Service (FBS) on Saturday, Hassaan said that the LTC was “planning a mechanism” for CNG storage so that buses could continue running on gas holidays. He said that CNG-fitted transport was an integral part of the company’s urban transport policy. He said CNG fuel was more environment-friendly than fuels like diesel.

The 20 new buses are to run on Route No 1, which runs from RA Bazaar to Sanda and covers The Mall. The company will now run the required number of buses (30) on this route, when previously it was operating only 17. The older buses are to be diverted to other routes. The FBS now has a fleet of 112 buses.

Hassaan said that the increasing investment in the urban transport sector, in the midst of economic gloom, indicated that investors had confidence in the Punjab government. He credited the chief minister for this, saying his “dynamic leadership” had created a good atmosphere for business.

He said that the LTC had started building new bus stops which would have ‘passenger-amenity booths’, route maps and other facilities. The LTC had also started repairing and cleaning existing bus stops.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2011.