History
The system was first proposed in 1991 and was updated in 1993 by Lahore Traffic and Transport Studies, funded by the World Bank. The project was subsequently shelved.
In 2005, the Transport Department of Pakistan revisited the project and carried out a feasibility study and in 2007, the Asian Development Bank provided PKR1 billion to conduct a study on the project. An 82 km (51 mi) long rail network with 60 stations was to be constructed in four separate phases as a part of the project. The first phase involved construction of a 27 km (17 mi) km railway line called green line which would include an 11.6 km (7.2 mi) underground network. This line would carry 250,000–300,000 passengers after construction. The construction was expected to start in 2008 and complete in 2010. However, the new Pakistani government in 2008, shifted its priorities to other projects.
In June 2010, Malaysia based Scomi International proposed a US$1.15 billion monorail–based alternative to LRMTS. However, the project was not approved as the Chinese government agreed to loan the LRMTS US$1.8 billion. The infrastructural investment required in LRMTS was US$61.9 million per km which was higher than the average range of US$13–50 million per km for similar projects.
In 2012, the LRMTS was abandoned in favour of more cost–effective Lahore Metro Bus System by the Punjab government.
Read more about this topic: Lahore Rapid Mass Transit
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