By Abdul Wajid Khan ISLAMABAD, Nov 09 (INP-Wealthpk) This year marks the first anniversary of the successful completion of the one-year operation of the Orange Line Metro Train system which is providing world-class service to passengers with its perfect operational excellence. On the Metro’s first anniversary, a spokesperson for the provincial transport department told the media that so far 20 million passengers had been catered for with around 99.9 per cent efficiency. He said the train had made 84,993 trips, covering an 11.23-million-kilometre distance in one year. Pakistan entered a new era of its urban modernisation and development of an innovative public transport system after the successful commercial launch of the Orange Line Train on Oct 24, 2020. It is pertinent to mention that as an early harvest project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Orange Line was constructed by the China State Railway Group Company Limited and China North Industries Corporation at a cost of US$1.8 billion. The project is considered another great achievement of CPEC, as it has greatly improved traffic conditions in Lahore. It has become a new milestone of the city, providing a comfortable, hassle-free travelling facility to the commuters. Significance of the project The project was the need of the hour for the second largest and densely populated metropolitan city of the country to cope with the growing traffic congestion and air pollution and to meet the commuters’ needs. Before its launch, it was hectic, time-taking and tiring for the commuters to travel by public transport. Currently, the Orange Line covers a total of 27km distance and has 26 stations including 24 elevated stops and two underground stations. The energy-saving electric trains, with an operating speed of 80km per hour have the capacity of providing travelling facility to 250,000 passengers a day. A media report says the train service has created about 4,000 jobs just from its operation and maintenance, and employed more than 7,500 labourers during the construction. Being the first-ever eco-friendly mass transit system of the country, the train is providing world-class travel facilities to the people. It has significantly reduced the cost and travel time from two hours to just 45 minutes. It is of massive advantage to the local people and is boosting their livelihoods by increasing economic activities. It promotes green development and modernization of the city. Unjust criticism of the project Despite the great advantages of the project, some analysts term Orange Line a white elephant and burden on the national exchequer because of the government’s financial support for running this project. An official of the Punjab Finance Department recently told the media that a Rs 4.422 billion subsidy will be provided for the project for the year 2020-21. The per passenger per trip subsidy was quoted at Rs130. However, Punjab Minister for Transport Jahanzeb Khichi says steps are being taken to increase the number of passengers in order to reduce the subsidy. On the other hand, a media report quoting an official of the Punjab government says the project will save Rs 60.4 billion public money per annum, as over 88 million people were expected to use this facility. The project critics are fully ignoring the massive benefits of this project. If we calculate the collective financial impact of the benefits which the train service is producing, it will be much greater than the amount of the subsidy being utilised to run the project. More importantly, being the second largest city and heart of the country, Lahore is amongst the largest contributors of tax revenue to the national exchequer. So, it deserves more investment in modernising its public transport infrastructure like the Orange Line project. More mass-transit projects on the cards Owing to the vitality and huge benefits of the project for the country and the society, more such mass transit projects under CPEC are in the pipeline. The government is working to construct the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) with an estimated cost of $1.9 billion, while work on the design and feasibility of the Quetta Mass Transit project and the Greater Peshawar Region Mass Transit project is also underway. So, it seems the government is fully cognizant of the provision of modern public transport facilities to its citizens. It is believed that these projects will be started and completed as soon as possible for maximum socio-economic development in the cities.