RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government will start work on the launch of a metro train service besides the construction of the Leh Expressway next year.

“The train will be operated on the route of the metro bus service as the elevated track in Rawalpindi and the road in Islamabad have been constructed for this purpose. The train track will be laid on the metro bus route next year,” PML-N leader and former MNA Malik Shakil Awan told Dawn.

He said after laying the rail track on the metro bus route, the metro buses would be diverted to other routes which would be set up in different parts of the twin cities.

He said the residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad were happy over the launch of the metro bus service and over 150,000 commuters used it daily at the moment.

“After the start of the train service between the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, tourism will flourish in the federal capital and the garrison city,” he said.

The PML-N leader said next year the provincial government would also start work on the Leh Expressway and flood channel project to put in place a signal-free route between Rawalpindi and Islamabad besides resolving the sanitation problems and checking flooding in future.

The government will also improve the sewerage lines in the city areas and construct a sewage treatment plant at Adiala.

He said after the completion of the flood channel, water in the Leh Nullah would not go waste and the city would be saved from flooding during rains.

The PML-N leader said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif also wanted to improve the condition of hospitals, especially to complete the mother and child hospital at Asghar Mall.

“An amount of Rs1 billion is required to complete the project and the government has approved the release of the funds.”

He said there was a dire need to set up another hospital in the city to avoid the rush at the three government hospitals.

He claimed that funds for the government hospitals had been increased to equip them with modern machinery.

“Ventilators, MRI and CT scan machines have been provided to the hospitals,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2015

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