Punjab CM inaugurates the first set of bogies of the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train during a ceremony/File photo:APP

LAHORE: The Supreme Court of Pakistan will announce its verdict regarding the Orange Line Metro Train project on Friday (today).

The proceedings regarding the project had begun in the Supreme Court after the Punjab government had filed petitions in the apex court following Lahore High Court?s (LHC) verdict ordering halting of Orange Line construction in the city.

A five-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal, had reserved the verdict in the case on April 17.

The provincial government had filed an appeal against LHC?s August 2016 order suspending construction of the $1.6 billion Orange Line Metro Train within 200 feet of 11 historical sites in the city.

A single train within the 27-kilometre rail line has the capacity to carry 1,000 people, out of which 200 can be seated while 800 can commute while standing.

The project, which was included in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor earlier in the year, is expected to run on electricity and transport up to 250,000 passengers a day.

CM Punjab unveils Orange Line Metro Train project

Before the event, Shehbaz Sharif sent messages on social media lauding the project

The capacity is set to be increased to 500,000 passengers by 2025.

Launched in May 2014 by Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in collaboration with a Chinese company, the project would have been the country?s first metro line, before it got embroiled in a legal battle in LHC which ordered a stay on several sites as the development was trampling over heritage sites in Lahore.