Lahore: The Punjab Planning and Development Department has approved the concept papers for the Blue Line Train project, according to a news source. The 27.6 kilometre long line will connect Valencia Town with Babu Sabu at an estimated cost of $3 billion.
As part of the process, the project details will be sent to the Central Development Board. Meanwhile, feasibility and consultancy work for the project has already been completed, for which services were from MVA Asian were acquired – an international consultation firm that specialises in traffic engineering, and transport planning and operations.
For the Blue Line Train, a formal request will be placed at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank of China for a loan offered on easy terms.
The project is expected to take off the load of the traffic from roads. According to certain estimates, the private traffic on roads adjacent to the Blue Line will drop from 44% to 14% as soon as the project becomes functional.
In addition to that, it will offer employment to 3,600 people, benefit about 30% of Lahore’s middle class, and generate an annual profit of PKR 379.6 million.
