LAHORE: Inter-city and intra-city public transport in Punjab remained partially suspended.
Daewoo Bus Services, Bilal Daewoo, Niazi Bus Services, AC coaches and non-AC buses remained suspended. Complete bus transport operation could not start while three or four buses of Insaf Transport were operational; General Bus Stand Lahore seemed operative. Majority of vans were not running.
It is pertinent to mention that officially inter-city and intra-city public transport in the province had to resume Monday, but many routes remained unofficially suspended as transporters said the guidelines issued would deliver negligible profits. These guidelines include a reduction in fares and a ban on allowing any elderly person or child travelling in crowded buses. Similarly, all vehicles have to be disinfected after every trip.
Arshad Mehmood, a passenger said he has become shuttlecock. He was told at Niazi Bus Terminal that buses were not operating, so he rushed to city terminal where he could not catch a bus for going to his hometown Sadiqabad. Then he visited General Bus Stand Badami Bagh, and failed too in catching a bus there. He demanded the government to hold talks with the transporters so that passengers could reach their hometowns.
Meanwhile, the routes that were operating saw immense violations of social distancing guidelines, with neither drivers nor passengers wearing face masks, and little evidence of transporters trying to reduce capacity to 50% or lower to allow for physical distancing. The vans operating on routes seemed full with passengers. The rickshaws had been operating with clear violation of SOPs issued by the Punjab government. The passengers were not wearing masks and the rickshaws were overloaded.
Niazi Transport Service Chief Executive Azam Khan Niazi said the resumption of bus operation was not possible under the SOPs issued by the government.
According to him, the Punjab government asked them to run buses on 50 percent passengers’ occupancy which is not feasible for transporters. Transporters cannot run buses with social distancing of three feet in buses. On two seats, we cannot afford one passenger to travel. These things increase our expenditures; additionally we have to provide gloves, masks and sanitizers to the passengers. It means we are going to start the operation with 40 percent. Is government implementing SOPs in markets, he questioned. People don’t maintain social distancing while shopping, why government did not close the markets after failing to maintain social distancing.
Azam Khan Niazi said the government is in contact with transporters, but transporters are not ready to start bus operation in these conditions. Railways ministry has issued SOPs for passengers as trains will resume operations partially from today (Wednesday), an official informed The News Tuesday.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Railways Amir Nisar, the trains will get back on tracks after a hiatus of two months from today.
During the first phase of resumption of operations, 30 trains will begin their journey from the provinces, he added. Providing a breakdown of the train journeys, the official said the first train will depart at 6am from Rawalpindi for Karachi. He said second train will leave at 7am from Rawalpindi for Lahore, while the third one will leave at 7.30 am for Lahore as well.
Regarding the precautionary measures, the DS Railways said the SOPs will be strictly implemented. Passengers are instructed to reach the railway station an hour earlier before departure time and no visitor will be allowed to enter the station premises for seeing off passengers.
Nisar said only 60% passengers will occupy a train, while 40% will remain empty. Passengers will wear masks and the railways officials will provide them with sanitizers during the journey, he further added. He said a first-time violation of an SOP, there will be a fine of Rs500 while for the second time there will be a fine of Rs1000. Upon a third-time violation, the passenger will be off-loaded. He said ticket sales will be online only as reservation offices are closed.