Islamabad’s e-buses to get rolling this week

ISLAMABAD: Thirty electric buses which had arrived in Islamabad last month are likely to start operations this week, as the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to ply these vehicles on two city routes following an inauguration ceremony likely on Friday.

The ceremony is expected to be held on July 5 and either the prime minister or the interior minister will attend it. “The preparations are in progress for holding the inauguration ceremony on July 5; there are chances that the interior minister will inaugurate this bus service,” said an official privy to details of the ceremony.

The official said the CDA planned to ply more buses in Islamabad as 70 more such vehicles are expected to arrive in the capital city from Karachi. After manufacturing, 60 more buses will be on their way to Islamabad from China.

The two routes on which these buses will ply include ‘Nust to Pims’ and ‘Pims to Bari Imam’.

The first route will start from Nust and end at Pims after passing through G-11 Markaz, G-10 Markaz, G-9 Markaz, and G-8 Markaz. It will have 13 stops and a bus will reach a stop after every 10 minutes.

The second route will start from Pims and conclude at Bari Imam after passing through G-7, G-6, Melody, Aabpara, Ataturk Road, Serena Hotel, Foreign Office, Radio Pakistan, and the Diplomatic Enclave.

On the other hand, the remaining 130 buses will operate on 11 routes to connect rural and urban areas of Islamabad. These vehicles are the property of CDA’s contractor National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC), a subsidiary of the Ministry of Defence, while the CDA will pay Rs306 to Rs331 per kilometre in fare and provide logistics to the contractor.

Initially, 30 buses will operate from the Convention Centre where the CDA has installed a charging station with six charging points. While, for 70 other buses, which are about to reach Islamabad from Karachi, the CDA has set up the facility at the H-9 metro depot. “After starting the operation of 30 buses, we can start the operations of 70 more buses within a few days,” said an official.

Meanwhile, the CDA is also working on the construction of bus depots: one each at Zero Point, I-9, and Tramri.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, during his previous tenure, had directed the CDA to launch new bus services on 13 routes. He had pushed the CDA to start the service and as a result, the civic agency engaged the NRTC to procure e-buses from an international firm that manufactures buses in China.

During the tenure of the PML-N government (2013-18), the Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro service was launched followed by Orange, Green and Blue Lines. PM Shehbaz inaugurated three metro bus services: Orange Line, Green Line, and Blue Line. The buses plying on the three routes belong to the CDA while 160 electric buses are the property of NRTC.