Metro Bus service resumes today

LAHORE:

The Metro Bus service will resume in the provincial capital on Wednesday under a new contractor after remaining suspended for 10 days.

The new contractor will start operations as the previous contract had expired. Trial of new buses has been conducted without passengers on the whole track between Gajumata and Shahdara.

According to officials concerned, the new company will run 60 buses on the 27km track from 5:30am to 11:30pm. More than 100,000 people will be able to avail the service daily.

Strikes by the drivers and other staff had become a norm for the past several months due to the termination of the contract of the operating company with the Punjab Mass Transit Authority. Previously, the staff went on strike after every few months over non-payment of salaries and the service resumed after a couple of days following negotiations.

However, the drivers went on strike thrice during last month, and the service had not been restored since August 28.

Hundreds of thousands of commuters of the provincial capital had been deprived of the Metro Bus service for the past 10 days.

The drivers sought their benefits from the contractor company, which agreed to their demands, but the bus service was not restored and contractor wound up its operations after the termination of its contract.

Students, employees and other citizens were forced to use expensive alternative means of transportation due to the suspension of the bus service.

The Orange Line Metro Train was the only public transport service in the city during the period. But the train operating on one route only catered to the needs of about 50,000 people daily, while a large part of the city remained deprived of public transport facilities.

Punjab Mass Transit Authority officials say Albayrak company’s contract had expired several months ago but it had been given short-term extensions to keep operational the important travel facility for the citizens.

Read More: Metro Bus employees end protest

The new contractor Veda Transit Solutions Chief Operating Officer Abdul Rehman told The Express Tribune that the regular operation would resume with 60 buses. The vehicle inspection and certification has been completed, while 160 drivers have been recruited and trained. The empty buses were run intermittently on the track by the new operator during the trial. The test was conducted on the whole route from Gajumata to Shahdara in accordance with a schedule.

The COO said each bus would complete six trips daily with 120 to 150 passengers. He said the service was being operated from 5:30am to !!:30pm after the issuance of the licence by Punjab Mass Transit Authority.

Punjab Transport Secretary Syed Ali Murtaza said the provincial department and mass transit authority were providing all possible facilities to the new contractor company that was taking over the operation of regular Metro Bus service. He said provision of affordable and quality transport facilities to the citizens was the prime aim of the authorities.

“The Metro Bus is the largest means of public transport in the city, so it is important that it remains fully operational,” he said.

The provincial secretary said work on a plan to run new buses on various routes in the city had also been completed.

New public transport projects would soon be launched across the province to ensure the best facilities for the citizens, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2021.