Accident occurs under OLMT track

Accident happened when containerised vehicle hit newly-installed height-gantry to safeguard OLMT structure

LAHORE:

Right after 10 days of inauguration on October 25, an accident happened under the elevated track of the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) on Wednesday midnight when a containerised vehicle hit the newly-installed height-gantry to safeguard the OLMT structure near Shalimar Station.

Eye witnesses said the accident occurred due to the to extra ordinary height of the heavy vehicle.

No casualty was reported, however, those travelling in the vehicle were injured. Two cars were also damaged as result of the falling of the heavy-gantry.

An OLMT contractor told The Express Tribune that after commercial launch of the project, the government had decided to install height-gantries to protect the underlay cables of the OLMT.

The OLMT, the country’ first electricity-run mass transit project, was inaugurated last month.

The project is the first large-scale technologically advanced rail transit project under the Belt and Road Initiative and CPEC.

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, Chinese Consul General Long Dingbin and Transport Minister Jahanzeb Khan Khichi jointly inaugurated the project by pressing a button, allowing Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA) to start commercial operation of the train service from the next day.