Punjab plans to build three intercity bus terminals in Lahore

Terminals will offer modern facilities to over 170,000 passengers traveling between Lahore and other cities

LAHORE: The government has decided to construct three ‘multimodal’ intercity bus terminals under a plan to provide modern facilities to people travelling to other cities from the provincial metropolis.

“The Punjab Transport Department and Lahore Metropolitan Corporation will build the terminals at Shahdara (GT Road), Gajjumata (Ferozepur Road) and near Thokar Niaz Baig (Multan Road),” said Punjab excise and taxation minister Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, while addressing a consultative workshop on Thursday.

The entire project will cost Rs8.11 billion, siad the minister, adding that the bus terminals will be built on the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis and under the private-public partnership (PPP).

“The terminals will be constructed in two phases and will offer modern facilities to over 170,000 passengers who travelled between Lahore and other cities daily.”



In addition, they will help overcome traffic congestion in the walled city, said the minister, adding that the government had also decided to close all intercity bus terminals once the new ones were built.

Punjab Planning and Development Minister Malik Nadeem Kamran, while addressing the workshop, said the government was ready to support new development initiatives in partnership with the private sector.

Punjab planning and development (P&D) board member Agha Waqar Javaid said the P&D’s PPP Cell and the Punjab Transport Department jointly arranged the consultative workshop to get market sentiments.

“We want this project to be the most successful project under the PPP mode. We will look for best investment plans from investors for the project as it will be a flagship project of the PPP Cell,” said Javaid.

The workshop was attended by among others by government officials and foreign delegates from Turkey, China and other countries.