Engineering Post Report
The first urbn railway system, Orange Metro Train (OLMT) in Lahore is going to be put on solar energy in order to save the rising more than Rs 1.9 billion annual electricity bill currently being incurred on the entire operationalization of the train, the first in the country.
Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMAT) is operating OLMT since this project was delivered to it by the Chinese contractor CR-NORINCO, a joint venture between China State Railway Group (CR) and China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) in 2020.
According to the PMAT officials, electrifying OLMT with the solar system was inevitable as the per unit cost of electricity varies between Rs 18 to Rs 21 which was not affordable to run the entire function of OLMT for a longer period of time.
For putting the train on the solar system a number of plans are under active consideration currently at the appropriate level. One of these plans is to build up a solar plant with the capacity of 50 to 70 MG, the solar plant so being considered will activate a mechanism of input to output through We Link to power up OLMT instead of using the traditional electricity apparatus.
OLMT is presently being driven by all electric energy to achieve zero pollution and zero emission . It is estimated that the annual fuel emission of gases will be reduced by 30000 tons.
Since its operationalization , the total ridership of OLMT has exceeded 20 million, It has achieved advanced operating international standards with 90000 train trips covering a total distance of 12 million kilometers with a trip efficiency of 99.9 per cent and a punctuality rate of also of 99.9 per cent.
Orange Line Metro Railway Project has 26 stations and a track spanning over 27 kilometers in length. Additionally, the travel efficiency of the citizens has also improved greatly as the journey of the entire route has been reduced from 2.5 hour to only 45 minutes. The OLMT operation is also playing another valuable role in reducing the use of old cars within the city, cutting down the level off emission of gases and environmental pollution and promoting green and sustainable development of the [provinciaal metropolis.
The OLMT is a project under CPEC. The agreement for this project was signed in April 2015 underlining great significance both for China and Pakistan. The federal government has since decided to shift all public buildings to solar energy amid aggravating energy crisis on the country The decision to this respect was taken during a recent meeting of the Task Force on Solar Energy presided over by former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
