Mass transit: Metro project to be completed by year end

64 buses to ply on metro bus route

ISLAMABAD: Work on the Metro bus project is in full swing and it will be completed within the stipulated time, an official associated with the project said.

“This is a public welfare project and every effort is being made for its early completion,” he said. The multi-billion-rupee mass transit project, which aims to cater to the needs of thousands of commuters, was launched in March and is scheduled to be completed before the end of the year.

As many as 64 buses will ply on the metro bus route between Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the official of the project said.

He said that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has already approved the construction of a metro bus depot worth Rs1.5 billion in Islamabad.

“More than 50 buses will be parked in the depot at night time,” the official said.

He said the Rawalpindi Development Authority had sought 20 acres from the CDA for the depot. “We are trying to get an additional three acres for this purpose,” he said.

Answering a question about the price of the land, he said the federal government had transferred the land to the Punjab government free of cost as the state land would be used for the public welfare project.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2014.