BRI brings a metro line to Pakistan
Pakistan’s very first metro line has started operations in Lahore, capital of Punjab Province and home to 11 million citizens. The 27-kilometer Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT), or Orange Line for short, runs from the southwest to the northeast of the city. It has 26 classy stations and an initial daily capacity of 250.000 passengers, going up to half a million a day in by 2025. Total cost of the project is $1.8 billion [Pakistan’s first metro line opens to passengers in Lahore].
The metro line is officially part of the $62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the largest BRI-project in the world. But it is financed separately, by a loan-agreement between the China Exim Bank and the Punjab provincial government, which needs to pay the money back in 20 years.
Main constructors were two Chinese state-owned companies: China State Railway Group (CR) and China North Industries Corporation (Norinco). The latter is best known as China’s largest weapon maker but the company has a sizable construction business as well.
The track and power system are made to Chinese national standards. The fully automated and driverless trains have an 80 kilometers per hour top speed. They are manufactured by state-owned CRCC Zhuzhou Locomotive. This company has also built trains for metro lines in Istanbul, Mumbai, and Gurgaon.
The line is operated by a joint venture between Norinco, Chinese subway company Guangzhou Metro Group (GMZTR), and the Korean-Pakistani bus-transit company Daewoo Express [Pakistan’s 1st ever metro train service starts commercial operation in Lahore].
Construction of the OLMT started in 2015. Work on the line was suspended by local courts several times, after protests about damage to historical sites and anger after the removal of some very old trees. There were also the usual questions about high costs, the risk of a debt trap to China, and the lack of transparency during the tendering process. All this delayed the construction by about a year.
The city of Lahore has plans for two more metro lines, a 24-kilometer Blue Line and a 32-kilometer Purple Line to the airport, but it is yet unclear when construction will begin, and if Chinese companies will be involved again.
Tycho de Feijter
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