Air-conditioned bus planned for IIA

Service will start from Rawat and Koral Chowk

RAWALPINDI: In a bid to make the commute to the airport easy and to save travellers from fleecing by private transporters, the district administration has prepared an air-conditioned bus project from two points in Rawalpindi.

The bus service will start from two points including Rawat and Koral Chowk and will reach their final destination, Islamabad International Airport (IIA). On each route, up to 32 air-conditioned coasters will be deployed under private partnership. The coasters from Rawat will reach their destination via Sawan Camp Kutchery and Mall Road whereas buses from Koral Chowk will take old Airport route to reach their destination.

There will be nine stops on the route and passenger carriers will follow the same path after crossing Kutchery Chowk. For the parking facility, three stands will be setup for new coasters including two private in Rawat and Koral Chowk while a third one will be provided by the district government at IIA’s parking area, which will be a joint stand for coasters taking different routes.

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Meanwhile, no other coasters or any vehicles carrying passengers will be allowed to take same road followed by the new buses, putting an end to monopoly of private transporters.

The fares will be decided with mutual consultation of contractors and Rawalpindi Transport Authority (RTA).

In this regard, the administration has summoned applications for contracts with a deadline of September 25.

Earlier, in July, Rawalpindi Regional Transport Authority (RTA) Secretary Khalid Yamin Satti said that the authority has invited proposals from private bus operators for this purpose and that the last date to submit the proposal was July 25.

He said the citizens had urged the authorities to start a bus service to cover the 35-kilometre-long distance to the new IIA to facilitate passengers.

A project to facilitate the passengers travelling from Rawalpindi to the IIA in air-conditioned buses was delayed last year due to a disagreement between transporters and the district administration.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2019.