June 02, 2015
News
Metro bus service to benefit approx 135,000 passengers per day
APPISLAMABAD - Islamabad's first ever modern public transport service "Metro Bus" will cater to the needs of an estimated 135,000 passengers per day.
Quoting Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Xinhua said that the landmark project was ready to provide service to public. "The projects will offer honourable, punctual and reliable transport service to common man with cheap ticket costing 20 rupees and will save commuters' time," the chief minister said , whose province equally shared the project with Islamabad's Capital Development Authority.
Giving details about the project, Xinhua's reported that a total of 68 red color central air conditioned buses, manufactured in China, will provide service to passengers on a route of 23 kilometers between Islamabad and its sister city of Rawalpindi. The project was launched on March 27 last year with the inspiration from Turkish metro bus service and it cost 44.84 billion rupees.
The project is based on "pre feasibility study on bus rapid transit project in Islamabad" conducted under Asian Development Bank funding in November 2012. The Metro buses with signal free and dedicated corridor will stop at 24 bus stations in both cities. The Rawalpindi Islamabad Metro Bus Project was started in the capital after its success in Punjab's provincial capital, Lahore.
On May 13 this year, the country's Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train Project at a cost of 165.226 billion rupees to be financed through the proposed China EXIM Bank loan. It would be the second modern public transport service in Lahore.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk