The Metrobus project continues to face delay and is not likely to be completed by the given date for its inauguration i.e. January 31.
When the project was launched, the authorities had made many claims that it would be completed by the end of December 2014. However, the executing agencies later claimed that the sit-ins staged by PTI and PAT affected their work and requested for an extension until January 31, 2015.
With less than a week left, the project is still nowhere near completion. Bus stops are being constructed at a distance of a kilometre from each other, and are yet to be completed, while escalators and elevators are yet to arrive at most sites.
The overhead bridge for the Metrobus at Faizabad has not yet been completed though work on it started immediately after the launch of the project. It is causing great inconvenience to the commuters of Islamabad and other cities. Some patchwork is underway on 9th Avenue, between the double road and Peshawar More. The flyover at Peshawar Mor is being treated as a different project from the Metrobus and its pillars are still being erected. It is projected to be inaugurated in May to facilitate commuters from the Kashmir highway.
The flyover expansion, meant to accommodate the Metrobus at Faisal Avenue, is moving at a snail’s pace, which has badly affected the transport system. The bridges near KalsoomPlaza are yet to be given finishing touches, while their surrounding areas await carpeting.
People, who were keen to see the inauguration of the project as soon as possible, so that they can get relief from all the embarrassing wagon operators, have expressed their dismay over the delay. They say the project might only see the green light on March 23, 2015, when the Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif pays two to three visits to it in a month, as he had been doing for the Metrobus project in Lahore.