K-P decides to finally launch the Pink Bus Service

The exclusively for women bus service is set to hit streets this month

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to launch the pink bus service for women in Mardan and Abbottabad.

In a bid to provide relief for women and to ease their travel in the city, the provincial government will start the pink bus programme using buses donated by Japan for this purpose. A tender has also been awarded to a local company that will manage the running of the buses and will provide drivers.

Japan’s government donated the pink buses in 2018 and they were supposed to start functioning in Peshawar but since the BRT project had just started there, the roads were hardly in a condition to run cross city buses, hence then chief minister Pervez Khattak had transferred the project to Abbottabad and Mardan. Even then, it has taken almost a year to get the bus service on the road.



Despite the unscheduled delays, the provincial Department of Transport is hopeful that the bus service will be started in the middle of February.

While, the first 20 buses for the Bus Rapid Transport Project (BRT) has reached Peshawar from Karachi on February 6. The modern buses from China, with amenities like ramps for wheelchairs, had reached Karachi port last week.

After clearing the duties, taxes and documentation, the shiny vehicles were mounted aboard trailer-trucks and hauled all the way to Peshawar.

BRT service will be available for the citizens from morning till 10pm. In the first phase, the buses will run from Karkhano to Chamkani.

Once the construction work is complete the route will be extended from Chamkani to the Firdos Market on Reach-I of the BRT route only. The service is likely to start from March 23.