PM orders completion of stalled metro bus project

Shehbaz says mass transit project should have all facilities

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has ordered immediate completion of the stalled metro bus project from Peshawar Mor to the New International Islamabad Airport.

Chairing a meeting, he issued directives that the project of public importance should be completed in all respects at the earliest to facilitate the citizens.

Officials concerned put forward suggestions to make the service operational by the end of May.

The metro bus service had been extended from Peshawar Mor to the Islamabad airport by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government during the previous stint in power. However, work on the project was stopped after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insag government came to power in 2018.

A senior federal government official told The Express Tribune that the National Highway Authority has been tasked to complete the 24-kilometre-long metro bus track from Peshawar Mor to the Islamabad airport.

He said that 30 buses have been ordered by the Metrobus Authority to launch it from Peshawar Mor to the Islamabad airport and these 30 buses will reach Islamabad by early May.

The senior officer said that work on the metro bus track from Peshawar Mor to the Islamabad airport was started on the orders of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to facilitate citizens travelling to and from the Islamabad airport.

Thousands of people of the twin cities daily commute to and from the Islamabad airport by paying exorbitant rents for taxi cabs and other modes of transport.

The official said that around 70 per cent of work on the project had been completed before the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government stopped funding for the project of public importance.

He said that after the work was stalled, a lot of damage had been done on the track at various locations.

The senior official said that the original cost of the metro track had been estimated at Rs18 billion, which could further go up given the steep rise in the cost of the construction material and the devaluation of the rupee.

The Peshawar Mor Central Station will function as the designated pick-up point.

urther, a “Capital Mass Transit Authority" will be set up to oversee the management and the service of the buses. The authority will be constituted under an act of parliament, with full control vested in it under the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

At the starting point of the route, a shuttle bus service will also operate from three different points in Islamabad to this central station. A total of 30 metro buses will run on this route, which will start daily from 7am to 11pm. Due to the new route, this time frame is predicted to increase. The fare on this route will be Rs30 per passenger.

Overall, the service will provide cheap and comfortable rides to passengers, citizens and employees traveling from Islamabad to New Islamabad Airport. It will also solve serious problems of overloading and overcharging of public transport along this route.

Under the Rawalpindi Regional Transport Authority, a coaster bus service from Coral and Rawat will also be operated, as this route has been approved. Initially the permits have been issued for the operation of ten vehicles.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2022.