Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the first set of bogies of the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train on Sunday, Radio Pakistan reported.
Addressing the unveiling ceremony of the project, the chief minister said the benefits of the project, upon completion, will be immense as nearly 0.25 million commuters will travel via Orange Line train and it would make commute easy for everyone.
Terming it a best intra-city project, the chief minister said that a distance of 27 kilometres from Darogawala to Thokar Niaz Baig will be covered in merely 45 minutes.
Moreover, he vowed that despite conspiracies being hatched against the development projects, the journey of progress and prosperity will continue successfully. He said when metro bus project was under construction, our opponents called it ‘jangla bus’ and accused the Punjab government of corruption. Interestingly, our opponents then announced metro bus project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, following the lead of Punjab. “However, there is no sign of metro bus in Peshawar,” he claimed.
Lashing out at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), he said people who speak about ‘tabdeeli‘ [change], are the ones who did nothing to provide any relief to the people.
Prior to the holding of the ceremony the chief minister tweeted praising the mega project.
Arrival of first metro train represents a development worth celebration. I will b shortly speaking to the people @ its unpacking ceremony IA
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) October 8, 2017
Shehbaz lauded the mega project terming it as an attempt to create equality between the masses and the privileged rich of the country and an opportunity whereby the living standards of the poor can be alleviated.
All development projects either completed or under construction have a singular aim of lifting people’s standard of living & it is our mission
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) October 8, 2017
The 27 trains will be made available for public use on December 25 — when the project will be officially launched. A single train has the capacity to carry 1,000 people, out of which 200 can be seated while 800 can commute while standing.
Launched in May 2014 by the Punjab chief minister, in collaboration with a Chinese company, the project will be the country’s first metro line.
In April, the Supreme Court of Pakistan was expected to deliver a decisive verdict on a petition regarding the damage caused to heritage sites due to the construction of this project.
However, the SC reserved its judgment and asked the Punjab government to file a comprehensive report to the court, detailing measures it would take to address the petitioner’s and civil society’s concerns over the matter.