Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the Lahore feeder bus service in Model Town here on Monday.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, the chief minister said that with the inauguration of the feeder bus service, 200 air conditioned busses will run from 6 in morning to 11 at night on 14 feeder routes, transporting people residing in nearby area to metro bus stations. These buses will cover 130 kilometres surrounding the the entire Metro Bus route, facilitating 120,000 commuters daily.
The chief minister has also announced the upcoming inauguration of a feeder bus service for Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and Multan’s metro bus stations.
Commuters will be charged Rs 15 per one way trip and are charged Rs 20 for the metro bus service. The low cost comes from a subsidy of billions of rupees by the government.
Commenting on the upcoming Pakistan day, he said that 23rd March would be celebrated with zeal.
This excellent transportation facility is an example of what the Quaid would want for Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif claimed.
He congratulated the nation on the inauguration of the new feeder bus service and appreciated the efforts of the concerned departments who worked day and night to provide the public transportation facilities.
Ongoing electricity generation projects will soon be completed, helping bring the country out of the energy crisis, the chief minister said.
In his conversation with the media, the chief minister said that Niazi Sahib was also working on a metro bus service for Peshawar, the same one he criticized a lot in the past.
“I will not call it the ‘jangla bus’ but will congratulate the people of Peshawar on the inauguration of the splendid bus system that will facilitate the city’s residents,” he said.
The Punjab government has cooperated with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and has provided them with details of how to go forward, Shehbaz Sharif said. Responding to a question about intercity transport, he said that the transport department should take steps for the betterment and revival of the public transport system.
Provincial Minister Mian Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman, Member Provincial Assembly Mehr Ishtiaq Ahmed, Lahore Mayor Mubasher Javaid, Advisor Khawaja Ahmad Ehsaan, Special Assistant Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, Punjab Mass Transportation Authority CEO Sibtain Fazal Haleem, the transport secretary and other relevant officials also attended the event.
LTC cracks down on private buses on feeder routes
As a result of the commencement of the feeder bus service, existing routes of the Lahore Transport Company (LTC) will be adjusted and buses running on these routes will be shifted to other routes proposed for integrated bus operations. The necessary instructions have already been issued to the private transport operators.
An LTC spokesman clarified the news that aired on various news channels pertaining to the LTC and private transport operator Bandial here on Monday. According to the spokesman, the existing B-23 route of the LTC has been cancelled as a result of the newly initiated feeder bus service. The initiation of the bus service was officially communicated in writing to the private bus operator along with information about three alternate routes (Thokar to Larri Adda, Mohlanwal to Thokar, and Larri Adda to Sharqpur Sharif via Azadi Chowk) for running its buses, the spokesman claimed.
Instead of the bus operator responding to the official communication, it ran buses on routes of the feeder bus service, and therefore the enforcement department of the LTC proceeded against the operator on violation of public transport rules and regulations, impounding 11 buses of Bandial transport operator on Monday.
The LTC as regulatory body shall enforce and ensure the implementation of public transport laws in all cases, the spokesman said.