BRT buses to ply again today after a hiatus of over a month

PESHAWAR: The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is resuming its service today after a month-long hiatus owing to the frequent fire incidents in the buses.

Though the TransPeshawar had announced to resume the service on October 25, the company changed the decision and decided to run the much-needed public transport on October 24. “Now the BRT service in the provincial capital will be resumed on October 24, one day prior to the suggested date of October 25,” said the spokesperson TransPeshawar, the executing company of the mega project.

He said that the early resumption of service showed the company’s commitment to ensure the best, reliable and safe transport service to commuters. “The bus manufacturing company experts in close coordination and supervision of TransPeshawar worked day and night to identify and rectify issues in the bus that were hampering the service,” he added. The spokesperson, however, stressed the need for all commuters to wear facemasks as a preventive measure against Covid-19. He added that passengers must follow all standing operating procedures (SOPs) shared by the organisation as this was in the best interest of the public.

“The BRT buses will reach every station within two to four minutes of headway so that passengers can easily wait for the next bus in case of rush. This will help in avoiding rush of commuters in the buses and stations,” he pointed out. He said the commuters of BRT can always dial TransPeshawar helpline 091-111-477-477 for registering their complaints and suggestions.

The BRT service was suspended after the fifth incident of fire in a bus on September 16. It had alarmed the government and the commuters and prompted TransPeshawar to suspend the service. The service was launched on August 13 amid criticism over delay in its completion and high cost of the flagship project of the PTI government. The previous PTI provincial government that ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 2013-2018 had launched work on the project in October 2017 with a pledge by the then chief minister Pervez Khattak to complete it i9n six months and start the bus service in April 2018. However, several deadlines were missed before Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the service on August 13 this year.