Pakistan

After Metro Bus, Lahore to get Metro train: Punjab CM

26 stations will be constructed on the route, and more than 200,000 people will travel by the train daily

Ali Usman April 12, 2015

Shahbaz Sharif says the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train will be completed soon. PHOTO: pcq.com.pk

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced on Sunday that a 27-kilometre-long Lahore Orange Line Metro Train project would be completed soon.

He was talking to a representative delegation of China Railways and Norinco International China that met him to discuss the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train project.

Talking to the delegation, the chief minister said the agreement between Pakistan and China over the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train project augurs well, and the project would be a masterpiece of Pak-China friendship.

Read: Good news on track: Lahore to get Pakistan’s first metro train

The project will result in speedy, comfortable and economical transport facilities to citizens and will revolutionise the transport system of the city.

Shahbaz said the metro train project was a unique project, adding that 26 stations would be constructed on its route, and more than 200,000 people would make of use of it daily.

Read: Karachi metro bus: Bahria Town offers Rs42b loan to Sindh govt

An agreement in this regard was signed between the Chinese company and the Punjab government in May 2014.

COMMENTS (16)

Hassan | 8 years ago | Reply Its really a great news. The whole nation is very happy with this news. Thanks to Shahbaz Sharif for the great project and Tribune.com.pk for providing us latest news.

Khurram Qureshi | 9 years ago | Reply Its really a great news. Nex project should be to improve CANAL of the city. it should be used for transportation purposes from Thoker Niaz Beg to Jallo. An excellent alternative available to avoid the Rush on the canal roads.... Well done CM.

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Frank Z | 9 years ago | Reply @ibs Mate the article was corrected,ms aid 2,000 earlier

ibs | 9 years ago | Reply @just_someone Bro. Can you read? It says 200,000 per day.

Kabool Shah | 9 years ago | Reply The train will serve 200000 people daily. This was an error in printing

N.Sid | 9 years ago | Reply Its 200,000 per day(two lacs) correct figure. Even this is very low figure. It should serve at least 1 million people in the long run, as it will cost around 1.5-1.8 billion USD to be built. Population of Lahore is now in excess of 10 million.

Chachoo | 9 years ago | Reply Because of the stupidity of Shahbaz Sharif everyone wants to settle in Lahore. It is creating a huge problem as unhindered migration is taking place in one city while other cities are in a sheer neglect. Kindly develop all cities and create opportunities in the whole province so that people will stay in their respective regions. Kindly learn from countries like Germany where Equal development leads to smaller cities and population distribution throughout the region. @just_someone: It is definitely a typing error by ET. The original project state this number as 500,000 on a daily basis upto 2025.

AsR | 9 years ago | Reply Karachi badly needs Mustafa Kamal to have such projects in the most populous city of the country. But ,unfortunately, that hard working guy has no place due to dirty politics.

Ahmad Malik | 9 years ago | Reply Huge development, and very good thinking and use of the budget. Lahore has a population of over 10 million and these guys are spending millions to cater to 2000 people, which is 0.02% of the population... couldn't have thought of a better waste of money myself!!!

just_someone | 9 years ago | Reply 2000/day????!!! The green line in NYC has a daily ridership of 1.3 million/day! How can a train be justified for only 2000 people a day????

Kashif Iqbal | 9 years ago | Reply A city like Lahore must have metro train/bus and other means of public transport. This is a great news.

Blithe | 9 years ago | Reply That's great news. I want to see more discipline on the roads . I also want to see the culture that comes with a well regulated transport infrastructure , that is learning to queue and having basic etiquettes.

drs | 9 years ago | Reply no matter what insafians and karachites say we lahoris appreciate such developments :p

lahori | 9 years ago | Reply Shahbaz Sharif is the best!

Haider | 9 years ago | Reply I hope first punjab government gives importance to basic needs like Health and Education and De Politicise Punjab Police what KPK govt is doing.No beds in hospital for new patients and metro on the cards...Please wait for 2-3 yrs for this project....Basic needs are the priority.

S.R.H. Hashmi | 9 years ago | Reply After Metro Bus, Shahbaz Sharif has announced a 27-kilometre-long Lahore Orange Line Metro Train project which he has promised to complete soon. And here we are, the unfortunate residents of the largest city of Pakistan which a population more than that of many states in the world, lacking a decent public transport system for the city. And what makes the situation even worse is the fact that this city had a functioning Circular Railway system with more than hundred trains running each day. However, in order to benefit the transport mafia, the system was messed up and ultimately closed down for making a small loss, while other institutions making far greater losses were kept alive through huge government subsidy. And the small loss that the Karachi Circular Railway made was more due to inefficiency and deliberate attempt to run it down rather than to it being economically unviable. There have been several attempts to revive the city railway under various names and schemes and even the dates of start of the work was announced but all this has proved to be just illusory. Normally, for a poor country like us, financing the scheme would have been the biggest problem. However, twice the Japanese government offered very long term loans at negligible interest rates and with long grace periods. However, on both occasions, the loans lapsed because the Sindh government failed to complete the basic work in a timely manner. Obviously, the rural-Sindh based Peoples Party wins few seats from Karachi and does not feel it owes much to the people of Karachi. Also, clearing the encroached circular railway tracks and other railway line would cause inconvenience to land-grabbers some of whom may be party members and obviously the government would not want to hurt their interests. Now, if vast majority of Karachiites suffers, it is just too bad and that is about it. Karachi

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