Reforming Lebanon and Beirut's transport network

[Red Phoenix]

that is a dream that needs to come true

it will even have positive social aspects

ppl from different cities will become less alien to each other when it becomes so simple to visit any city

[Dry Ice]

Look at the privatization of side road parking in Beirut... it is doing OK as far as I know.

[elias-aj]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Look at the privatization of side road parking in Beirut... it is doing OK as far as I know.

Privatization or issuing invitations to bid is the best solution in our case, provided that the state does properly its work by imposing terms and conditions to the private company(ies) concerned.

And provided that all parties respect the principle of transparency throughout the proceedings (from the invitation to bid to the contrat awarding etc.).

Now we need first that politicians start considering this issue and I haven't heard anything on that matter from none of our politicians, except may be some sweeping statements...

In my opinion, that issue and the energy issue are crucial and the ones to which the state must adress itself in order to give our economy the basic infrastructures needed to really start developping something else than real estate sector (and other areas than Beirut).

[dodzi]

Originally Posted by Mar1K

I salute the idea, exactly what Lebanon needs. But I wonder, since Beirut's southern suburb is probably the most congested place of all, does it deserve anything from that planning? (considering your plan gets taken into consideration by the ministry).

Does the southern suburb, Bekaa and the south always have to wait till the last last bit? If anything comes that is?

I do not doubt your intentions, you are thinking about developing your country, but I would want to see places like Mrayjeh, Ma3moura, Haret Hreik, Bir El 3abed come second in planning, not first (ma3azallah otlob first)

I hope we can keep this as decent as possible.

When I suggested structuring the project in 7 phases, it was just a suggestion, and I did not intend to classify them chronologically or in terms of importance.

It was first and foremost to make the readers understand that the planning had to be a) rational, b) cost-efficient, c) possible, and focused on both passengers AND industry.

Beirut's train station is situated in the Northern part of Beirut (near the Seaport), and looking at a satellite map, you can see that the train tracks can find their place through the densely neighborhood north of Beirut, all the way to Jounieh. Of course, the trick is to build tracks around Jounieh without affecting the urban areas. Once past Jounieh, the train can easily go towards Tripoli, and further to Homs.

Building a track towards the South is more of a challenge. It would be possible by building tracks under the roads, or then forget the connection and build a new station South of Beirut, possibly between the Camille Chamoun Stadium and Horsh Beyrouth.

But if that doesn't happen in phase one, phase two does include bus lines that serve all of the focal points of Beirut, including the southern suburbs. Phase 3 would serve all the neighborhoods of Beirut, including the less dense suburbs.

As I said before, it is not a chronological subdivision, but rather a ration one: the Northern train lines would be built to create a connection a) between the two biggest Lebanese cities (Beirut and Tripoli), and b) between Beirut, Tripoli, and international destinations like Homs, Turkey, and the rest of the Arab world, primarily for industrial and commercial purposes!

Rebuilding the train tracks through the mountains to the Bekaa valley took in my reflections, more time and money. It is also a less populated area (same for the south in a lesser way) than the areas north of Beirut...

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

A ferry service from coastal areas north/south of the capital to Ras Beirut?

Same as for the metro, I am not sure it would be cost-efficient. It is an interesting idea, but not necessarily to be thought by a public planning. It could be included in the last phases of the planning (possibly phase seven), but it is not a priority, as it takes more time than the train, and serves less areas than the bus!

Originally Posted by elias-aj

Very interesting thread Dodzi !

In my opinion, we should first reorganize the circulation in the cities by :

- making people respect and for good this time, traffic lights, stop and generally, driving regulations ;
- creating lanes (and making people respect them) with lanes dedicated to the buses and taxis circulations as it will help the buses being on schedule - otherwise, the circulation mess will remain as it is...

As for the tramway, I think that while it may cost a lot of money, it's still a good idea to connect different areas in the city because buses lines will not be sufficient in a city like Beirut with its suburbs.

Regarding the train networks, it would be a good solution to reduce the level of pollution and the number of road accidents due to old trucks.

However and to be pragmatic, such projects need cash and big investments, and God knows that the lebanese state is not far from bankruptcy. So, how to finance it ? Inviting private companies - including foreign companies - to invest while applying some kind of a Terms and Conditions contract ? Or creating joint-venture between the state and private companies ? Note that in any case, it may imply the payment of subsidies by the state or granting the companies with important tax incentives.

You are right about making people respect the rules of circulation. Although it is important for this project, it is nonetheless part of another project. This specific project should be focused on the transport networks first.

As for the tramway, I believe that it could only be achieved in a seventh phase. Why? Because Beirut's roads are too dense. Building a tramway network requires creating fast tracks for it. This would have three negative impacts: a) building the tracks would involve a big investment in time, space and cost, b) the roads will be even more congested, c) Lebanese drivers are not used to international rules of circulation, and adding a tramway will involve new adaptations which might create new problems (the tramway can only use its tracks to move, and can't avoid accidents the same way a bus can).

For the financing part of the project, I suggest that the train infrastructure will be first financed thanks to the commercial and industrial sector, as they will use these tracks to transport goods between Beirut and Tripoli and further to Syria. The bus network will be financed by the people who use them. Passenger trains will be subject to a marketing study: which people would use it, what destinations they would be going to, etc.. I am sure many people will prefer paying 10.000 LL to go to Tripoli (1h), rather than the 5.500 LL using the bus (2-3h) (just an example).

Originally Posted by roch10452

private companies
with a good institution that prevent monopolization

Competition in the transport sector would create many problems. As I said in my previous post, I have used these buses frequently, and the problems are the following:
- the competition between companies/bus drivers create disruptions with the commute time: the bus driver would try to pick the passengers that would otherwise step onto the other bus
- a non-full bus (hence not cost-efficient) would stop on the side at a focal point (Dora roundabout is a perfect example), and wait until the bus is full before going further

Public buses do not have these problems: if all buses belonged to the same company, then the bus drivers would be paid with a stable salary, and not in function of how many passengers they pick up! Hence, a bus schedule would be possible to implement!

[roch10452]

Originally Posted by dodzi

Competition in the transport sector would create many problems. As I said in my previous post, I have used these buses frequently, and the problems are the following:
- the competition between companies/bus drivers create disruptions with the commute time: the bus driver would try to pick the passengers that would otherwise step onto the other bus
- a non-full bus (hence not cost-efficient) would stop on the side at a focal point (Dora roundabout is a perfect example), and wait until the bus is full before going further

Public buses do not have these problems: if all buses belonged to the same company, then the bus drivers would be paid with a stable salary, and not in function of how many passengers they pick up! Hence, a bus schedule would be possible to implement!

actual competition problems are caused by a silly competition
the right way is for companies to compete on bus lines...
each town or region can pick a company for the local transportation, and threaten to change it next year if the service offered is not suitable and cheap
Beirut-Tripoli line can be bought by Ahdab this year, if they dont do a good job, Beirut and Tripoli's Municipality can ask another company to do the job

[dodzi]

Originally Posted by roch10452

actual competition problems are caused by a silly competition
the right way is for companies to compete on bus lines...
each town or region can pick a company for the local transportation, and threaten to change it next year if the service offered is not suitable and cheap
Beirut-Tripoli line can be bought by Ahdab this year, if they dont do a good job, Beirut and Tripoli's Municipality can ask another company to do the job

I see what you're saying. You're talking about public procurement. The government (local or central) publishes a call for bids (in this case for public transport), and signs a contract with the best offer (least expensive, better services).

But the service in question is still a State monopoly. The competition is only to determine who will manage this state monopoly. It isn't a liberalization of the transport sector, so it doesn't exactly become a competitive sector! You'll basically have one company (be it per city, Mohafaza or national), and it may change hands once every couple of years, but the company remains the same!

It's a good way of seeing things from your part. Indeed, a call for bids has to be organized to determine who will manage the project! And indeed, it is better if not just one company gets the contract. However, it is preferable that these companies don't interact too much on the same territory...

[drinkaholic]

Great ideas Dodzi, very innovative, if only they can be properly implemented :-) Plus, I find the ideas very appealing, I take buses often in Lebanon, though it takes longer to reach your destination, but you can enjoy watching the streets & people & shops passing by you and you don't have to get involved in any road rage, I imagine what you proposed would become very popular with both citizens & tourists :-)

[LiNk]

Originally Posted by dodzi

- First phase: a train network --both freight and passengers-- linking Beirut (port) to the North and Syria (passing through Jounieh, Jbeil, Batroun and Tripoli, but also shorter lines through Dora, Antelias, Zouk Mkayel, etc.)

- Fourth phase: developing a second, third and fourth train line to the Bekaa valley and to South Lebanon. It is important to link the different cities and industrial areas together (Aley-Chtaura to Zahle-Rayak-Baabak and another to Damascus, and to the South passing through the Airport-Damour-Saida-Sour)

Eventually, effectiveness of such a projected infrastructure would be tightly related to an accurate and scrupulous bus service performance. Synchronization being highly vital, the current roads/highways infrastructure would be certainly deemed as awfully insufficient.

Phase zero has to be the rehabilitation and reconditioning of roads. Without it, any other plan would be vowed to failure.


Note: I highlighted cities that could potentially become major intercity rail stations. As any other railway system, smaller rail stations would be also present in smaller, less important cities.

[dodzi]

Thanks a lot everyone for your enthusiasm and for giving this thread the attention it deserves.

I'd like to invite you to think of new ways to develop this project. It could be:
- in terms of planning (networking system)
- financially
- politically
- logistically
- etc.

I went a bit crazy and started imagining how the train and bus system would be traced. I only traced the Northern train line as well as Beirut's main bus network. I invite other members to trace their imaginary train and bus networks from other areas, or simply improve my suggestion for the areas I traced.

As per the first phase, Beirut would be linked to Tripoli and further to Homs, with Dora, Jounieh, Jbeil and Batroun as stops.



Beirut's norther suburbs would also be served thanks to a parallel train network, similar to the Parisian RER. This "RER" would serve Dora, Antelias (or Dbayeh) and Zouk Mkayel. These stops would also include bus networks leaving from there to serve the surrounding neighborhoods that do not have easy access to the train (for instance Jal el Dib, Naccach, Bsalim, Kaslik, Sarba, etc.).



As per the second phase, a bus network would serve Beirut's main focal point, including the train commuters. These are only the main lines, as more lines would serve the neighborhoods that aren't served by these main lines.

Please note that I haven't really studied the network very hard. Some lines might be either useless or illogic. I am however only trying to create a first draw for a well-functioning transport network, by stressing on some main points:
1) focal points should be linked together
2) main bus networks should be linked to the train station(s)
3) the main lines could get inter-crossed by secondary lines...



NB: the big blue line is the "RER". Notice how the purple line connects the surrounding neighborhoods to the Dora station.

[dodzi]

Originally Posted by LiNk

Eventually, effectiveness of such a projected infrastructure would be tightly related to an accurate and scrupulous bus service performance. Synchronization being highly vital, the current roads/highways infrastructure would be certainly deemed as awfully insufficient.

Phase zero has to be the rehabilitation and reconditioning of roads. Without it, any other plan would be vowed to failure.


Note: I highlighted cities that could potentially become major intercity rail stations. As any other railway system, smaller rail stations would be also present in smaller, less important cities.

Thanks for your input. I suggest the make your map in three phases:
- phase 1: Tyr-Beirut-Tripoli-Homs/Latakiyyeh and Beirut-Zahlé-Rayak-Damascus
- phase 2: Nabatiyeh-Rayak/Zahlé-Baalbak-Homs
- phase 3: Tripoli-Baalbak and Saïda-Nabatieh

Other than that 2 remarks/questions:
- I am very skeptical about phase 3. Do many people commute between Tripoli and Baalbak and between Saïda and Nabatieh? It is important to ask these question in order to determine the cost-efficiency of building such a network. It also seems a lot of investment for lines between only 2-3 stations.
- also, is Ehden important as a station? And how about adding Zahlé, Aley and Damour?