History

Orange Line (Lahore Metro)

The Orange Line of Lahore Metro (Urdu: لاہور اورنج لائن میٹرو ٹرین‎), is an under construction line of the Lahore Metro in Lahore, Pakistan. Once completed, it will connect Raiwind, Multan Road, Mcleod Road, Lahore Junction and the Grand Trunk Road.

It will be the first line of the Lahore Metro, which is country's first mass rapid transit train system. The 27-kilometre metro train is expected to cost $1.65 billion out of which $650 million would come from from Federal Government of Pakistan, the rest is financed through soft loan's by the Government of China as a part of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor through the Export-Import Bank of China. These loans would be paid back by Punjab Government in instalments over a 20-year period.

The corridor will be capable of accommodating two trains running both up and down the track, ferrying up to 30,000 passengers per hour. According to reports, the design speed of the proposed train is 70km/hr but the scheduled speed while it will be stationed by 26 train stations of, two will be constructed underground. The project has been subject to criticism on charges of transparency, while environmental groups have been critical of the envionrmental sustainability of the project.

History

The architecture, construction and operation of the orange line has been entrusted to the Chinese government and the estimated completion time is 27 months. The project was initiated with a signed agreement between the governments of Pakistan and China in May 2014. Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif signed the agreement from Pakistan side at a ceremony which was also witnessed by President of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain and Chinese President Xi Jinping. This project was started 15 months after the inauguration of Pakistan's first rapid transit service of buses, Lahore Metrobus. The project will cost $1.6 billion. This project is under construction and is expected to be completed by October 2017.

Project Details

The Orange Line Metro will run on a 27.1-kilometer track, of which 25.4 kilometers will be elevated. The service will initially benefit around 250,000 passengers a day. The capacity will be increased to 500,000 passengers a day by 2025. Shehbaz Sharif on the occasion said that the Metro Bus Service, the metro train would also be implemented in other cities after Lahore. “The metro train will revolutionize the way people travel as it will make the commute trouble-free,”. project implementation is well underway.