Orange Line Metro Train ready to hit the tracks
Shehbaz Sharif recently tweeted photos of the Orange Line Metro Train’s trial run.
The 27 kilometer is all set to be inaugurated on the 31 st March 2018, and all Pakistanis have set
eyes on the opening of $1.6 billion project. The 12 kilometer (Package 1) is near to completion
as its 670 u-tub girders are installed and the trial runs have been successful in Lahore. The
construction of elevated metro track near Shalimar Gardens and cover section of the track from
McLeod Road to Chauburji has been completed after coming up from the Gulabi Bagh.
A train would approximately accommodate 1000 passengers, OLMT consists of 27 trains, out of
which 19 have already reached in Pakistan and rest are on their way. According to official
sources the OLMT will be accommodating almost 250,000 passengers a day and will extend to
500,000 passengers by 2025. The project on its completion will be linking Raiwind, Multan
Road, McLeod Road, Lahore Junction Railway Station and the Grand Trunk Road.
Orange line is on the hit list of the opposition. Imran Khan recently tweeted about the place of
such expensive projects on Pakistan’s priority list, not just that he has demanded metro train
projects contracts are made public for transparency.
Even the Apex court has set 31 conditions for transparency which includes clauses like strict
monitoring and trial periods. Secondly, to ensure quality the Apex court has also formed a 5
member expert committee and a 3 member technical committee. Khawaja Ahmad Hassan, man
steering the committee of OLMT has stated that the pace of work will be improved in order to
resume the traffic on roads.
On the other side orange train had some really bad repercussions on the academic activities.
Recently, Sacred Heart Convent School situated near the GPO chowk has been officially closed
due to the OLMT operations. The other parts of cities have also been affected, however the
completion of OLMT project is expected to bring city life back to normal.
