The metro bus service between the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad resumes after two days after two days of suspension.
The metro bus services resumes after the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) ended its two days of a political rally that was staged along the Srinagar Highway. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and other allied parties in the PDM had converged on the capital to stage a protest rally against inflation.
After the PDM workers dispersed peacefully, barricades were also removed from the Srinagar Highway and the traffic was allowed to pass.
The announcement to end the camp and the rally was made on Tuesday at around 3 am by the PDM leaders.
The Islamabad administration could not inform the Metro Bus Authority about the culmination of the PDM rally and as a result, the metro bus service between the twin cities could not be started till 12 noon on Tuesday. All buses remained parked on an elevated track in Rawalpindi for half a day due to the closure of the metro depot at Peshawar Mor for security reasons.
The Metro Bus Authority said that the operation could not be started on Tuesday morning as they did not receive clearance from the Islamabad administration. Later, clearance was received at around 10.30 am, after which the buses were shifted from the elevated track of Rawalpindi to the depot and the metro operation resumed service at noon.
Metro buses between the twin cities routinely remain operational from 6 am to 10 pm and up to 125,000 passengers travel daily via the metro bus service.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 30th, 2022.
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