Punjab Transport Department has decided to introduce famous tram service of the British era in the provincial metropolis Lahore.
This avant-garde project will be jointly performed by a consortium consist of Chinese company CRSC International and Czech Republic’s Inekon Group consortium and will be completed in collaboration with Transport Department.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Transport Department and Czech Republic along with Chinese companies in a ceremony held at Transport House on Thursday.
According to the agreement, both companies will work jointly with Lahore Transport Company in order to improve public transport sector in Lahore and work on other projects as well. The modern based tram project will soon be launched in the city. In the first phase, tram will run on 30 to 35 kilometer long track on Canal Road. Representatives of Czech Republic Inekon Group Jospeh Husek and Zhang Xiao Feng of Chinese Company CRSC specially participated in the ceremony.
Provincial Transport Minister Jehanzeb Khan Khitchi while addressing the participants said that with the introduction of tram service in Lahore, thousands of passengers will be benefitted and traffic problems on Canal Road will also be reduced. This project will prove to be an important milestone in the fulfillment of the dream of making Pakistan a welfare state, he added. In order to provide general public with quality-based and environment-friendly transport facilities, benefits will be gained from the experiences of international transport models, he stated.
Jahanzeb Khitchi further said that those companies launching tram service in Lahore have already introduced modern based tram services in USA, Soviet Union and in other different countries of the world. He said that different countries have shown their interest for investment in transport sector of Punjab province which gives ample proof of global trust in the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Secretary Transport Asad-ur-Rehman Gillani, Project Director Transport Planning Unit Dr Waseem and Chief Executive LTC Maryam Khawar and officers of concerned departments participated in the ceremony.—INP
