Tag: metro bus

  • Orange line metro surpasses 11,000 daily ridership

    Orange line metro surpasses 11,000 daily ridership

    The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is satisfied with the average daily ridership on the Orange Line Metro Bus route.

    The data on average ridership on the Orange Line Metro Bus route was reviewed during a session at the headquarters of CDA. The average daily passenger load for 15 buses was 11,464 passengers per day, resulting in 30 passengers every bus journey.

    It was also shown that the Faiz Ahmed Faiz junction for the Orange and Red lines was the busiest, with 1,746 passengers per day, while the Police Foundation-Mauve Area Stop was the least used.

    Additionally, May 23, with over 16,000 passengers, was the busiest day of the year. It has been observed that as time passes, the ridership on this route improves.

    The CDA administration expressed their delight that a big number of people are taking advantage of this service, and expressed their optimism that with the upcoming inauguration of the green and blue lines, the connection between various districts of the city will improve, as well as the number of ridership.

    The administration expressed the hope that not only would this reduce traffic congestion, but that it would also assist to reduce air pollution in the city.

    It is important to note that buses are expected to arrive in Islamabad from Karachi by the end of this week; in the first phase, buses for the orange, blue, and green lines are also arriving in the federal capital.

  • PM Shehbaz kicks off New Islamabad International Airport Metro Bus Service

    PM Shehbaz kicks off New Islamabad International Airport Metro Bus Service

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has inaugurated Metro Bus Service from Peshawar Morr to New Islamabad International Airport today [Monday]. Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Mustafa Yurdakul, Chinese Chargé d’affaires Pang Chunxue, and a number of Parliamentarians attended the inauguration ceremony.

    Speaking at the inauguration, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described the metro bus project as a gift from PML-N Quaid Mian Nawaz Sharif for the residents of the federal capital, adding that the project was started in 2017 and was made functional in a record time one year in 2018.

    “But after the government changed, like other projects, this project was also delayed,” said the prime minister while addressing the ceremony. The thing that was not present was the government’s will to work and serve the masses,” he added.

    After assuming the office of Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif had directed for resumption of work on the project and its completion on a war footing.

    The bus service will provide international standard travel facilities to thousands of passengers on a daily basis. Later, the Metro Bus Service route will be extended to Rawat.

  • PM Shehbaz announces ‘free metro service’ for Islamabad in Ramzan

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has announced ‘free metro service’ for the citizens of Islamabad during the month of Ramzan.

    “Prime Minister has ordered free metro service for the citizens of the capital during the month of Ramadan. He expressed dismay over delays in the project terming it severe negligence as 16 billion rupees have been spent on the project so far,” tweeted PM Office.

    https://twitter.com/PMO_PK/status/1514484230981521408

    He paid a visit to the Peshawar Morr Metro Bus Station at 7am to assess the project’s progress on the ground. He also ordered to operationalise Metro Bus Service from Peshawar Road to Airpot.

    Shehbaz Sharif took oath as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan on April 11.

  • Metro, causing ‘Rs3.6 million loss a day’, remains shut for over three months

    Metro, causing ‘Rs3.6 million loss a day’, remains shut for over three months

    The Punjab Mass-Transit Authority’s (PMA) deficit has reached Rs375 million due to the closure of the metro bus service for 105 days while officials believe that a single-day shutdown of metro bus causes a loss of Rs3.6 million, Pakistan Today reported.

    According to reports, while no decision has been taken to restore the service by the government so far, the Punjab government had earlier also cut subsidy of PMA by Rs1 billion and the fourth quarter’s funds were not fully released in the last fiscal year (2019-2020).

    “Due to non-issuance of funds, there have been problems in payment to contractors,” reports quoted officials as saying.

    They lamented that the government’s policies were beyond understanding as it had allowed intra-city and inter-city transport to operate but had not yet restored the metro bus service since after the first coronavirus lockdown.

    “An average of 130,000 commuters were benefiting from the metro bus service daily. The authority is currently facing the worst financial crisis. No strategy has been formulated to restore the financial damages nor has it been decided how the foreign company which is operating the metro bus will be supported.”

    Due to the outbreak of coronavirus, the Punjab government had decided to close Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan metro bus service in March. However, local transporters were later allowed to operate inter and intra-bus service while following certain guidelines.

    The report also quoted sources in the Punjab government as claiming that the metro bus service was a white elephant. “The service had been subsidised by the previous government but it is very difficult for the present government to subsidise the bus service further.”

    PMA General Manager (Operations) Uzair Shah said the decision to reactivate the bus service would be taken by the Punjab government whereas no order had so far come from the government. “The authority is facing problems due to non-receipt of subsidy,” he added while also requesting the government to release funds.

  • Buzdar’s metro plan backfires, number of commuters falls by 20,000

    Buzdar’s metro plan backfires, number of commuters falls by 20,000

    Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar-led provincial government’s Metro Bus fare policy has backfired as both Lahore and Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro buses have faced a drastic decrease in the number of passengers.

    According to The News, after the Punjab Metro Bus Authority increased the bus fare from Rs20 to Rs30, the number of commuters on Lahore Metro Bus has decreased by up to 20,000 per day while around 10,000 to 20,000 passengers have stopped commuting via the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus.

    “We were expecting an annual increase of Rs800 million in the revenue of Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA) by increasing the fare. However, it is quite surprising that the number of passengers has decreased up to 20,000 in Lahore and 10,000 to 20,000 in Rawalpindi-Islamabad on a daily basis,” reports quoted an official as saying.

    It is very strange for us to know that passengers are so sensitive about the fare, the official said further. “The PMTA management is preparing the report on this unexpected outcome which will be presented to the authorities concerned in a week or two.”

  • No corruption found in Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro project

    No corruption found in Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro project

    An audit by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) into the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus Service has failed to find any irregularities in the process of the project’s development, The Express Tribune reported Monday.

    According to reports, a team led by Punjab Works director-general (DG) conducted the audit, and PAC has so far reviewed some 53 audit papers while the Special Departmental Accounts Committee (SDAC) has reviewed around 97.

    However, the authorities have found no evidence of corruption so far.

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led government last year in September had ordered the audit of all the metro bus projects started by the former ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi-Islamabad.

    Jailed ex-prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif had laid the foundation of the 23 km project in March 2014.

    The project in twin cities initially was estimated to cost Rs44.8 billion, however, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) had revised the cost of project downwards by Rs285.4 million to Rs44.56 billion.