- Bus depots at Chamkani, Hayatabad and Dabgari yet to be completed
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has failed to test the prototype bus for the Peshawar Transit Bus project despite its arrival last month.
The 12-meter-long hybrid bus arrived from China after a few days delay, is yet to be tested for its features, including accessibility to female and disabled passengers.
The CEO of TransPeshawar Altaf Akbar Durrani was removed over the delay in the procurement of buses for the project. Following his removal, the chairman of board of directors, general manager operations (GMO) and chief financial officer (CFO) resigned in protest.
However, the company’s board refused to accept the resignations filed by the GMO and CFO, while additional chief secretary Dr Shahzad Khan Bangash was requested to take over the chairman’s office.
According to Bangash, the aim of bringing the bus from China was to test it on the main corridor as well as on the service routes of BRT project.
A total of 220 buses would be purchased by TransPeshawar for the project, of which 155 are 12 meters long while the rest are 18 meters long.
The TransPeshawar buses are hybrid and can be powered by both diesel and electricity.
According to TransPeshawar spokesperson Nouman Manzoor, the buses will not be bought until the completion of the project. Furthermore, Manzoor stated that after the purchase, the buses will arrive in Peshawar after two months.
The Urban Mobility Company, which was to run the BRT in Peshawar, also failed to complete the bus depot at Chamkani. The depot was scheduled to be completed by June end, however, its inauguration has now been put off till the end of July. Moreover, the Hayatabad and Dabgari points are also incomplete and require months to complete.