Public transport: Chinese company ‘will ply 111 busses by June’

111 of the 200 buses a Chinese company has agreed to ply in Lahore will be operational by June

LAHORE:

One hundred and eleven of the 200 buses a Chinese company has agreed to ply in Lahore will be operational by June this year, Lahore Transport Company chairman Khwaja Ahmad Hassaan said on Monday.

He said the agreements with two Chinese companies, Noranko for the Lahore Rapid Mass Transit System and Foton for buses, were a milestone in provision of quality public transport in the city.

Hassaan said Noranko would invest $1.7billion in the LRMTS. In the first phase, he said, it would operate between Shahdara and Gajjumatta.

The LTC chairman formed a committee to give recommendations for dealing with the illegally-run transport including QinqQi rickshaws, mini buses and vans. The committee was given 15 days to submit its recommendations.

The committee is headed by LTC vice chairman, Mehr Ishtiaq, and includes LTC member Mohsin Lateef, GM (Enforcement) Kamran Khan, GM (Operations) Asad Rehman Gillani, GM (Finance) Adnan Muddassar and Lahore Chief Traffic Officer Syed Ahmed Mubeen. Hassaan said the LTC was committed to provide all possible assistance to transport companies so that public transport facilities in the city could be improved. He said under a transport action plan, new bus terminals and depots would soon be built in the city.

He also said there would be no compromise on standards. He said new busses would be allowed to operate only if they met the standards and specifications approved by LTC board of directors.

Hassaan said the LTC would provide assistance to overhaul 250 old busses. He said third party evaluation would ascertain the extent of repairs required for these buses.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2011.