Public transport: Chinese company launches new CNG bus service

Foton starts operations with 56 new buses, another 55 due before 2012.

LAHORE: The Foton Bus Company (FBC) finally launched operations in Lahore on Tuesday, introducing a fleet of 56 new imported CNG buses on three routes.

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif rode on the bus from his residence to the secretariat after the inaugural ceremony in Model Town, which he attended along with Lahore Transport Company Chairman Khawaja Ahmad Hassaan and FBC vice president Zong Chris Jones.

Foton was supposed to start services at the end of June with a fleet of 111 buses, but was delayed after the federal government imposed a new sales tax on imports. LTC officials said that another 55 Foton buses would hit the roads before the end of the year.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the chief minister said that transport was critical for the country’s development. Apart from the Foton Bus Company, he said that the government had signed an agreement with a local company for the provision of 200 quality buses. He said that the Punjab government had decided to bring 700 new buses to the cities of Punjab.

He said that a Chinese company’s investment in the transport sector in the province despite the problem of terrorism showed how much China trusted the Punjab government.

Hassaan said that commuters would “feel the difference” in terms of comfort when they ride the new Foton buses. He later told The Express Tribune that they were negotiating with the federal government for a gas deal so that the buses could run on the weekly CNG holidays.

He said that there was no need to clamp down on alternative means of transport like unlicensed rickshaws and vans on the FBC’s routes, as people would immediately stop using them. “We strongly believe that citizens want to travel in affordable and quality buses. These other forms of transport became popular because they were cheap and the buses were always overcrowded and in poor condition,” he said.

FBC vice president Zong Chris Jones said at the inauguration ceremony that the company was planning to expand its operations in Lahore. He said that the Punjab government had facilitated the company in all matters and this would strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

Foton will run buses on route B-9, which starts at the City Railway Station and ends at Kahna via Lakshmi Chowk, Hall Road, Ganga Ram Hospital, Mozang, Ichhra, the Canal, Kalma Chowk, Model Town and Chungi Amar Sadhu; on B-20-B, which starts at Green Town and goes to Bagrian Chowk, Akbar Chowk, New Campus, Yateem Khana Chowk, Chauburji, Data Darbar, Azadi Chowk and end at Niazi Chowk; and route B-33-B, which starts at Hamdard Chowk and goes to Barkat Chowk, Akbar Chowk, Jinnah Hospital, Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Wahdat Road, Muslim Town, Shadman, Lawrence Road, Egerton Road and the City Railway Station.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th, 2011.