Eidul Fitr: Hometown journeys kick off

Transporters in twin cities abruptly hike fares, passengers show anger

RAWALPINDI:

As the Eidul Fitr is hardly four to five days away and transport fares are peaking this time, the residents of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad have started departing for their hometowns to celebrate the religious festival with their families. All tickets for the first two special Eid trains, scheduled to depart on April 7, have already been sold out.

Negotiations between transport union leaders and the Rawalpindi district administration to lower fares during Eid festivities have not been successful as the former have declined to lower the fares by even a single paisa owing to a 500% surge in the costs of petroleum products, vehicle spare parts, and tyre prices as compared to last year.

Those availing five-day work a week seem happy to leave for their hometowns with additional leave of coming Monday and Tuesday (April 8-9). The influx of people returning to their hometowns has caused a surge in traffic at all 44 major and minor transport hubs throughout the district, including the Pirwadhai general bus stand.

The most crowded routes for passengers travelling from Rawalpindi are Faisalabad, Multan, Hyderabad, Karachi, Quetta, Bahawalpur, and Sialkot, however, there are normal passengers for Peshawar, Abbottabad, Lahore, Mianwali, Gujranwala, Gujarat, Azad Kashmir, Nowshera, and the tehsils of inner districts.

The passengers’ rush is expected to intensify at all bus stands from Saturday night onwards. The transport stations of Pirwadhai, Peshawar Morr, Sawan, Faizabad, Pirwadhai GBS, and Pirwadhai Morr are experiencing a surge in passenger crowds.

Maintaining the old tradition, the transport operators have abruptly enhanced fares by Rs300 per trip and also started charging extra for large passenger bags. They have temporarily shifted their vehicles from local routes to long routes to catch more passengers and also enhanced city fares. Transporters in Rawalpindi are also using mobile phone service for booking tickets.

On the other hand, an exchange of words between the bus operators and passengers is also taking place on the issues of overloading and overcharging as many transporters, in a bid to maximise their earnings, have even resorted to installing additional seats in their vehicles, resulting in a reduction of space and passage within the vehicles.

Arshad Ali, the Secretary of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA), has announced the establishment of dedicated counters at all major bus stations. From today, officials deputed at these counters will promptly take action and address the complaints related to overloading and overcharging.

Asif Khan, the vice president of the Transport Federation, defends increases in fares subject to the rising costs of petroleum products, vehicles, spare parts, repairs, challan rates, and labour, saying they couldn’t operate vehicles to suffer losses.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2024.