PUNJAB Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has signed an agreement in Shanghai for … an Orange Line Metro Train in Lahore. The total length of its track will be 27km, providing another modern travelling facility to the people. This would certainly be a gift for the fast-expanding, populous city. Lahore was once known for its double-decker buses…. But they began to thin out around 1980. The Lahore Omnibus Service fell victim to corruption…. It was replaced by the Punjab Urban Transport Corporation but it … was closed down.

During his first tenure, Mr Sharif made plans to run buses in Lahore, disallowing wagon services on different city routes. This caused a great deal of inconvenience…. The buses which replaced the wagons were fewer in number…. At the other end, easily available bank loans led to the mushrooming of private cars, causing routine traffic chaos.

Major cities in the civilised world offer affordable … and efficient public transport…. Those who own cars also prefer to travel by bus. London’s Tube is a great facility…. Many plans were also made in the past to run an underground railway in Lahore but these were never implemented.

The latest train project … would prove a great service…. The metro train will help cater for the ever-increasing number of commuters. But it would be better to also consider a ‘Tube’ railway in the city. — (May 23)

Selected and translated by Intikhab Hanif.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2014