Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus Service Resumed After Suffering Rs49 Million Loss

The Punjab Masstransit Authority (PMA) has resumed Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus Service after two-week pause

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Nov, 2019 ) :The Punjab Masstransit Authority (PMA) has resumed Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus Service after two-week pause.

The Metro Bus Service remained suspended for the last 14 days due to the Jamiat Ulema-e -Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Dharna near Sector H-9 that called off the other day.

The closure has not only caused a heavy loss to the national exchequer, but also tested the nerves of commuters, traveling daily from Rawalpindi to Islamabad and vice versa.

The local administration of Islamabad, in a letter issued on October 30, had asked the PMA to hand over the possession of the metro bus' depot located near H-9, a venue where the JUI-F was allowed to stage its protest, the official sources in the PMA told APP here on Thursday.

The district administration sealed the metro's depot before the arrival of Azadi March in the Federal capital, they added.

However, the district administrations of Rawalpindi and Islamabad had allowed the PMA to operate the bus service after the JUI-F's sit-in ended, they said.

"The authority generates revenue of some Rs3.5 million per day through the Rawalpindi-Islamabad bus service and has lost some Rs49 million in the last 14 days due to the JUI-F sit-in," they said.

Around 120,000 to 130,000 passengers travel in the twin cities metro bus daily, they added.

Meanwhile, the residents of twin cities have also heaved a sigh of relief after the recommencement of metro bus service as earlier they they were forced to hire taxis and online ride-hailing services for travelling in the twin cities.

Adeel Khan, a resident of Committee Chowk Rawalpindi said for the last two weeks, he had to pay Rs350 as taxi fare to reach his office, located at Zero Point Islamabad.

After the Maulana's Azadi March departed from the federal capital, he said the halted connectivity had revived between the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad and unimpeded traffic flow began again.

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