Metrobus still stuck in station

Punjab reopened public transport but not the bus service

RAWALPINDI:

Even though the Punjab government on Monday decided to lift curbs on public transport in the province, the Metro Bus Service, which runs between the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, failed to get out of the station.

With a decline in novel coronavirus (Covid-19) cases, the Punjab government - like the rest of the country - had moved to ease some of the restrictions.

In a notification on Monday, the provincial government allowed all sectors including restaurants, hotels, gyms and salons to reopen (only marriage halls, marquees and educational institutions were excluded from the notice).

Timings and weekly holidays were restored to pre-Covid-19 levels.

Metro bus faces Rs500m loss during lockdown

It further read that "All kinds of public transport are hereby allowed to operate, subject to the adoption of SOPs/guidelines," read the notice.

However, it could not decide whether to restore the Metrobus Service, which operates between the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, catering to thousands of passengers.

Sources in the Punjab Metrobus Authority said that all employees of the service, who have not had any work and even pay for the past 138 days, after the service was shut on March 23, have been told to be ready to return to work within an hour of the provincial government issuing a notification to restore the service.

Sources added that the prolonged closure of the service had created a financial crisis for the service which has already resorted to cutting the salary of all staff in Islamabad and Rawalpindi by 25 per cent.

With an estimated 120,000 people using the service daily, sources said that the service has so far suffered a loss of around Rs496.8 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2020.