OLMT project may not see light of day this year

PTI government had announced May 2019 deadline for completion of project

LAHORE: Although civil, electrical and mechanical works of Lahore Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) have been completed, the project may not start commercial operations this year owing to shifting priorities and a lack of interest of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, The Express Tribune learnt on Sunday.

Earlier, the former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had fixed the OLMT project’s completion deadline before the 2018 general elections. However, it failed to meet the target owing to 22-month long litigation and other teething problems.

Later, on the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP), the PTI government announced May 2019 as the deadline for completing the project but it has failed to achieve its target. Now, Punjab Chief Minister’s Special Monitoring Unit (SMU) on Transport has fixed March 2020 as the deadline for the project.

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In a recent meeting of the SMU, the provincial transport secretary highlighted that the project would be operational during the current fiscal year.

An official working on the project told The Express Tribune that the sitting government was more interested in the scrutiny of development projects initiated during the previous regime of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) than their operations.

Earlier, the government held a weekly meeting of the OLMT project in which all government departments, agencies and utility companies’ representatives used to review the progress of ongoing works and set targets for next week.

However, with the change of government, hardly any meeting has been held to expedite or complete the project, he pointed out.

Responding to a question, he indicated that all development works have been completed except commissioning of electricity.

Recently, the OLMT sub-station has been energised but Chinese contractors, responsible for testing and commissioning the project, are still awaiting approval from the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC).

Once Chinese contractors get a green signal from NTDC, they would start testing the country’s first metro train project.

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Another hiccup in the commercial launch of the project is the operations and maintenance contract. The government has floated tenders for the contract twice but is still finding a suitable contractor for the commercial launch of the project, he indicated.

The OLMT project is part of the city metro network. Construction work started on October 25, 2015. It has a total length of 27.12 kilometres. Out of it, 25.4 kilometres of the track is elevated while 1.72 kilometres of the track is underground to protect historical places.

OLMT has 26 stations – 24 stations are at a height of 12 metres whereas two stations are underground. The number of trains is 27 and each train has five bogies stretching 20 metres with 60 seats. Separate seats are allocated for women, senior citizens and differently-abled persons. A public address system has also been installed for the convenience of passengers.

The doors of the electric train are fully automatic and doors are also installed at the platform to ensure the safety of passengers.

The train will complete a distance of 27 kilometres from Ali Town to Dera Gujran in 45 minutes. It will pass through congested areas of the city where more than 250,000 passengers travel on a daily basis. Official documents highlight that within the next few years, OLMT will facilitate 500,000 passengers daily.

When completed, OLMT will connect Raiwind, Multan Road, McLeod Road, Lahore Junction Railway Station and Grand Trunk Road. It will be the first line of Lahore Metro, which is the country’s first mass rapid transit train system.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2019.