The Metro Bus Project for Rawalpindi and Islamabad is likely to be completed by February 28 as 49 out of 83 escalators have been installed at various stations.
Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Chief Engineer (CE) Saeed Akhtar Friday said that the government was determined to launch the bus service in shortest possible time to provide modern travel facilities to the residents of the twin cities. The 23.2-kilometre long bus service will be signal free and is in final stages of completion, he added.
“A bus depot on 17 acres of land near Peshawar Morr is under construction,” he said.
Saeed said RDA has paid Rs 130 million to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for the renovation/re-plantation of greenbelts destroyed during construction work of the Metro Bus Project. He said that Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) has directed the contractors of Metro Bus Project to increase the labour force in the day to complete work as the contractors stop work during night due to cold.
Saeed said that the project was earlier expected to be completed by the end of 2014 but due to sit-ins in the capital it was delayed and would now be completed by February. He said as many as 64 buses will ply on the metro bus route.
The bus service would start from Flashman Chowk on Benazir Bhutto Road and end at Pakistan Secretariat. The buses would cover a distance of 23.2 kilometers through Benazir Bhutto Road, Faizabad, IJ Principal Road, 9th Avenue and Jinnah Avenue of Islamabad, Saeed concluded.
