75.3 pc civil work on Orange Train project completes

LAHORE :Rolling stock for Lahore Orange Line Metro Train has been manufactured according to the international standards to provide economical, safe,  swift and comfortable mode of commuting to the low-income people.

Adviser to Punjab Chief Minister and  Steering Committee for Lahore Orange Line Metro Train Project (LOMTP) Chairman Khawaja Ahmad Hassaan said this while chairing the weekly progress review meeting here on Wednesday.

He said that a total of 27 trains would be operated under the LOMTP and each train would comprise five carriages. Every compartment of the train is 20 metre long with 60 seats and travel capacity for 200 passengers. Separate seats have been reserved for the elderly, disabled persons and women in the carriages. A public address system has also been installed in the trains for announcing the names of the stations. He said that an energy-saving air-conditioning system suitable for the constant high summer temperature in Pakistan had been designed and installed in the trains. He informed that the Chinese contractor CR-NORINCO had issued schedule for the arrival of locomotives for the trains in Lahore. As many as 23 train sets would arrive in Lahore by the end of this year and the coaches for all the 27 trains would be available in Lahore by the mid of March 2018.

The meeting was informed that 75.3 percent of the civil work on Lahore Orange Line Metro Train Project had so far been completed. Progress on package-I from Dera Gujjaran, GT Road, to Chouburji is 86.7 percent, on package-II from Chouburji to Ali Town is 56.3 percent, on the depot near Dera Gujjaran is 80.1 percent while on Stabling Yard near Ali Town it is 77.3 percent.

Khawaja Ahmad Hassaan directed the authorities concerned to take the project as a challenge by executing work on fast track and setting short timelines for accomplishing various tasks. He directed the civil and E&M contractors for increasing labour force to meet the the deadline set for  completion of the project.

Lahore Mayor Mubashir Javed, Chief Traffic Officer Rai Ejaz Ahmad, NESPAK General Manager Salman Hafeez, senior officials of Lesco, Wasa, PTCL, Sui gas department, Traffic Police, Railways, Rescue 1122, Civil Defence, Chinese contractor, representatives of Chinese Engineering Consultant and local contractors of the project also attended the meeting.