PAKISTAN: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif officially launched dynamic tests of the first metro train for the Lahore Orange Line on October 8.
‘The Orange Line is not just a public transport project, but a means of extending to citizens respect and delivering a world-class transport facility’, said Sharif.
CRRC Zhuzhou is supplying 27 five-car trainsets with capacity for 1 000 passengers including 200 seated. The trains have a maximum speed of 80 km/h and draw power at 750 V DC.
Work on the 27·1 km Orange Line between Dera Gujran and Ali Town began in October 2015. Civil works on the Dera Gujran – Chauburji section are being undertaken by Habib Construction Services, while a joint venture of ZKB and Reliable Engineering is responsible for civil works on the western section. A consortium of China Railway Group and Norinco is the E&M contractor.
The US$1·6bn project is being undertaken with Chinese funding. Ridership is forecast at 250 000 passengers a day when the line opens, rising to 500 000 passengers by 2025.
