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Went on the Orange Line Metro, Pakistan’s first rail-based mass transit system, accompanied by @theLahorewala. What a beautiful piece of public infrastructure! Don’t want to dismiss the displacement it caused, but here’s some of the highlights:
Happy to report it has the new train shine & smell
. Commuters were almost all working class folks, quiet, reverent & respectful of this public property. It’s only been a few months, but the silence & non-chalance of the riders shows how quickly good transit can embed itself.
. Commuters were almost all working class folks, quiet, reverent & respectful of this public property. It’s only been a few months, but the silence & non-chalance of the riders shows how quickly good transit can embed itself.
Here it is, pulling into an above-ground station, complete with the shrieks & the rush of air
. Everyone seems to be respectfully grappling with the system: ticket issuers, guards at platform, folks at turnstiles. It’s a whole new universe of interactions & I’m here for it 
. Everyone seems to be respectfully grappling with the system: ticket issuers, guards at platform, folks at turnstiles. It’s a whole new universe of interactions & I’m here for it
Chaburji has never looked better ... than when seen from inside a public train!
The Anarkali station is huge, but you wouldn’t know it’s a metro station if you walked past. Identity, communication, wayfinding inside the system & big, bold branding is missing. So are connections to MetroBus, which was right across.
Hire a design firm to create a visual identity and culture and make it bold and in your face. Here’s a system to be proud of, Lahore. Don’t let your politics make you lose sight of what is truly admirable. I’m gonna stop before I choke 
To all those using photos taken at 9:30am on Sun to call this a “white elephant,” & being egged on by @MashwaniAzhar who has no clue how public transit is funded the world over, I feel bad for you. You don’t know better. Use it, and then tell me that you don’t deserve this.
