Rawalpindi: The federal government on Friday announced its decision to extend the Leh Expressway route from the IJP Principal Road to the Srinagar Highway – and to include the project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative, a news source reported.
Earlier, the Chinese Civil Engineer Construction Company (CCECC) had forwarded this recommendation for the route’s length to the authorities concerned. In a high-level meeting to discuss the project’s inclusion in CPEC, the federal executive accepted the proposal. Sources revealed that following the approval, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) would also become part of the mega project.
As per the details revealed, the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) would construct the road from the Soan Bridge to the IJP Principal Road and the CDA would construct the section going towards the Srinagar Highway.
On the other hand, the government has also approved the addition of the New Islamabad International Airport 100-kilometre circular railway project to CPEC. According to sources, it has announced its decision to use the metro track as a circular train track. As per this decision, the authorities concerned would run 5-box trams instead of metro buses on the track.
Sources revealed that the metro bus administration would run its ‘red tram mono train’ on the track. Meanwhile, the public and private sector would run the ‘green mono tram train’ and ‘orange tram train’, respectively. They added that the government would construct an elevated circular train track from the Soan River Bridge to the Kutcheri Chowk, the Mall Road, and the Peshawar Road. The project would run on an electrical system, the sources said.
As per the details shared, the planned shift from the metro track to the circular train track would save the government significant sum of money in subsidy. Sources added that the saved money would help the metro bus administration, the government, and the private sector to run their tram services, respectively, instead of metro buses. Source:
