Around 40 buses have reached Pakistan from Sweden, while the remaining are expected to reach soon
The Metro Bus Service (MBS) project would be inaugurated in mid-February, said Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus Service (MBS) Project Monitoring and Implementation Committee Chairman Hanif Abbasi on Wednesday.
He said that the government was determined to start the bus service in the shortest possible time to provide modern travel facilities to the residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
He said that the 24-kilometre Metro Bus Service will be signal free and the project is in final stages. He said that the contractors were trying hard to complete construction work on the project, including bus stations, in the shortest possible time. He said that the completion date of the project has been extended for another two weeks as work on Package-II of Rawalpindi Section would take more time.
He said work on all other packages in Rawalpindi and Islamabad is almost complete. While 30 per cent work on the Rawalpindi’s Package-II still remains to be done.
The MBS project is a mega scheme which would be completed in record period of 10 months within in scheduled period, he said, adding that if there were no sit-ins by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) in Islamabad, the project would have been over in December 2014.
According to Rawalpindi Division commissioner and Metro Bus Project Director Zahid Saeed, the pace of work of the project would be reviewed in a meeting on January 30.
Maximum construction work has been completed on Package I, III and IV, but construction work on Package II and V was slow but now, the contractors are trying hard to complete the construction work, he said.
He said a bus depot have been constructed on 17-acre land near Peshawar Morr, where buses coming from Karachi would be parked. The commissioner further said that the Metro Bus Authority (MBA) has started hiring staff, including drivers, conductors and others for the bus service.
The authorities concerned had got published advertisements in this regard, he said. The MBS Project, which includes a signal-free interchange at Peshawar Morr, is being completed with the objective of providing an international standard mass transit system to the residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. March 23 is the final date for completion of construction work on the Peshawar Morr Interchange, he said.
According to Metro Bus Project Deputy Director Hafiz Mohammad Irfan, as many as 40 buses will reach Rawalpindi from Karachi in couple of days as the buses are being brought through special trailers, however, the MBS will be launched in mid-February as the completion of the project would take another two weeks for completion. He said buses for MBS are being brought from Sweden. About 40 buses have reached in Pakistan, while the remaining are expected to reach within few days.
