Mass transit: Contractor reports progress on metro project

First barrel of the underground section complete

LAHORE: The first barrel of the underground section of the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) has been completed.

Habib Construction Services CEO Shahid Saleem told The Express Tribune that the 91-metre-long barrel from Anarkali to PIA Planetarium had been completed. He said the company had laid slabs and completed the exhaust duct of the barrel.

“Mud excavation is currently underway. It will be completed in a few weeks,” he said.

“More than 100 transoms have been completed on which a viaduct would be installed,” he said.

Saleem said the company had also laid foundations of all Package-1 stations, except some whose courts had issued stay orders.

“The construction of five stations is in advanced stages. Cantilevers on the first level are being constructed.

Once that is done, we will construct the second and third levels of the station.”

Responding to a question, Saleem said the package-I site, from Dera Gujran to Chaburji, had stay orders around five places - Shalimar Gardens, Ghulabi Bagh, Budhu Ka Awa, Lakshmi Building and Parachute Colony.

He said the company had completed construction of all pillars but 38 on which work had been stopped on account of stay orders.

“We have started laying asphalt on roads affected in the first phase. Steel fences have been removed from the route. We plan to complete asphalt laying from Dera Gujjaran to Cooperative Store before monsoon rains arrive,” he said.

He said roads affected by the first phase work would be restored from Bohar Wala Chowk to Hall Road in the next phase.

Saleem said the company had also started digging from Hall Road to The Mall.

“Work on the second barrel, located near GPO Chowk, has not been started on account of the stay orders,” he said.

He said company had already mobilised resources along the route and was awaiting go-ahead from the court to complete the underground section, he said.

The 27-kilometre Orange Line Metro Train project is estimated to cost $1.65 billion. It is being funded through a Chinese loan.

The project is part of the metro network in the city. It will connect Raiwind, Multan Road, McLeod Road, the railway station and the Grand Trunk Road.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1^st, 2016.