The Punjab government is learnt to have decided to start the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) service for public on March 23. China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Chairman Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa (Retd) called on Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, here Friday and discussed matters including progress made on CPEC related projects. Both agreed to expedite the pace of work on CPEC projects.
The CM said that instructions have been issued for early start of Orange Line Metro Train as it would help the daily commuters to benefit from the facility of urban transport. Reiterating that China is a very trustworthy friend of Pakistan, he said that Chinese cooperation for the progress of Pakistan is praiseworthy. He emphasized that CPEC will boost up economic activities in the region to generate colossal job opportunities.
It may be noted that work on the Orange Line Train was started on October 2, 2015 by the then PML-N provincial government led by Shahbaz Sharif after securing US $ 1.6 Billion loan from Chinese Exim Bank. The Orange Line Train Project is an automated rapid transit system in Punjab's capital Lahore. The line will span 27.1 km (16.8 mi) with 25.4 km (15.8 mi) elevated and 1.72 km (1.1 mi) underground. Out of the total 26 substations, 24 are elevated and two are located underground. This train is expected to handle about 200,000 passengers daily, and they will be able to cover the 27 kilometers within just 45 minutes.
The CM Usman Buzdar said that CPEC is being moved forward in the real sense during the incumbent government and complete cooperation will be continued for early completion of CPEC projects in Punjab.
"Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are being established to promote investment and industrialization, SEZ project has been started in Faisalabad over an area spanning over thousands of acres," he said, adding: "An investment to the tune of billions of dollars would be made in the province due to the establishment of SEZs."
Moreover, on the direction of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, steps have been taken to curtail the expenditures of CM Office. As per details, an amount of Rs 62.9 million was spent on repair of vehicles of CM Office in 2016-17 and Rs 42.4 million was spent in 2017-18 for the same purpose but only Rs 20.93 million was spent in the tenure of Usman Buzdar for repair of vehicles in 2018-19. Only Rs 7.1 million has been spent on vehicles' repair in the first six months of the current financial year.
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