Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus

The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus is a bus rapid transit system operating in the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area of Pakistan. It consists of four routes, namely the Red, Orange, Blue, and Green Lines. The Red and Orange Lines have dedicated lanes with proper stations built along them, while the Blue and Green Lines currently run along the Islamabad Expressway and Srinagar Highway respectively, with regular traffic.

The Metrobus network's Red Line was the first to be opened on june 4, 2015, and stretches 22.5 kilometers between Pak Secretariat, in Islamabad, and Saddar in Rawalpindi. The second route, the Orange Line, stretches 25.6 kilometers between the Peshawar Morr Interchange and the Islamabad International Airport, and was inaugurated on 18 April 2022. On 7 July 2022, the Green Line and Blue Lines were added to this Metrobus network.

The system uses e-ticketing and an Intelligent Transportation System, where the Red Line is managed by the Punjab Mass Transit Authority while the rest are being managed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

History

Public transport in Islamabad and Rawalpindi was never been a viable option for commute. Hiace and other local transport routes existed, but many parts of the city weren't connected to the center of Rawalpindi–Islamabad Metropolitan areas. Therefore, after the completion of the Lahore Metrobus, plans for a similar project in the Rawalpindi–Islamabad Metropolitan area were made.

Phase One: Red Line

Construction of the bus rapid transit system began on 28 February 2014 and was completed by June 2015, with 60 buses initially plying on the route. The Rawalpindi Development Authority was tasked with overlooking the project with a cost of approximately , which was between the federal government and the Punjab provincial government.

Even after the service launch of the metro bus service, the issues regarding the drainage of rainwater still remained unfinished resulting in the inundation of the underground bus stations during monsoon rains. However, rainfall in the area was above normal throughout the year resulting in greater delay during construction.

The project was initially divided into five packages, where Package-1 consisted of flyovers, bridges and pedestrian underpasses. The project was started on 23 April 2014 and was completed on 27 March 2015 incurring a total cost of as quoted by the contractor of the project. The construction project was awarded to Habib Construction Services which is one of the largest construction companies of Pakistan and have worked on several other mega projects previously.

Phase Two: Orange, Green and Blue Lines

The 25.6 km Orange route track, from Peshawar Morr to New Islamabad International Airport, worth Rs16 billion was started by the PML-N government in 2017 and was originally scheduled for completion in 2018. After a delay of five years, it was inaugurated on 18 April 2022 by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The extension added nine bus stations that include NHA Station, G-10 Station, NUST Station, G-13 Station, GT Road Station, Badana Kalan Station, Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway and Islamabad-Lahore Motorway Junction Station and Airport Station. Thirty buses were expected to arrive from China for this route, but faced delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic which led to the closure of the Port of Shanghai. Consequently, CDA started the operations on this route by borrowing 15 buses from the Red Line.

Seeing the dire situation of public transport in Islamabad, the new PML-N government began work on Blue route and Green routes of Rawalpindi - Islamabad Metro Bus. Initially, Blue route is between PIMS and Koral Chowk and Green route is between PIMS and Bhara Kahu before more stops are added on these corridors in the future. For this purpose, 30 buses were ordered from China, of which 15 are plying on Orange route and the rest are plying on Blue and Green routes.

Lines

Stations

Functional elements at the stations include ticketing booths, concourse level passenger transfer, escalators, platform screen, public toilets, doors turnstiles for automatic fare collection and all other amenities for passenger convenience. A central ITS control room is also included in the project to control the whole operation of the Metro Bus system.

Ticketing and fares

The system uses e-ticketing and Intelligent Transportation System wand. The ticketing options include a single-ride token and a refillable metro bus card.

Fleet

The initial fleet consisted of 68 articulated 18-meter-long high-floor buses for the Red Line route. These buses were imported and supplied by VPL Limited from the China-based company Sunwin Bus, which is a Joint-Venture formed between SAIC Motor Corporation Limited (SAIC) and Sweden-based Volvo Bus Company, VPL Limited also happens to be the sole after-sales distributor for both Volvo Buses and Sunwin Buses in Pakistan, among other products.

In 2022, 30 buses were imported from China for the Orange Line route. Fifteen of these buses are plying on the Orange Line route, while ten were shifted over to the Blue Line route and five to the Green Line route.

Controversies and mishaps

The rainy season of 2015 exposed significant problems in drainage systems of the network. One of the worst affected stations was the PIMS metrobus station, with severe flooding affecting smooth operation severely. Similarly, cracks appeared after a minor earthquake in Rawalpindi, which raised questions over the structural integrity of the infrastructure used in the project. The long-term financial model to run the project and its utilization is a subject of serious controversy surrounding the project. Reports show that although 150,000 passengers were expected, but due to the lack of feeder routes, the project was unable to produce over 80,000 passengers in the long run. It became extremely difficult for management to afford fuel costs for 68 buses, and only 35 buses were utilized. This resulted in jamming and overcrowding during peak travelling hours.

In 2015, a controversy surrounding project's annual loss emerged. According to official numbers, a single bus trip costs 9,100 PKR, while it earns only 2,600 PKR. This incurs a loss of 6,500 PKR each trip. The subsidy of this project was paid by Punjab government initially. After heavy loans accumulated on the Punjab government in paying subsidies, it was decided in 2016 to divide the load between the Punjab government and Capital Development Authority (CDA) on the basis of length in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. However, CDA refused to pay for losses of Metro bus attributing to lack of funds in 2016. Federal government provided funds to CDA to shoulder the burden of Punjab Masstransit Authority in 2016. However, in 2017 the problem surfaced again, raising question marks on long term losses and the financial burden of this under utilized project.

The Orange route became controversial when it got delayed for nearly 5 years. It was meant to be inaugurated in August of 2018, however, for one reason of the other, it couldn't be completed till April of 2022. Even after its completion, people noticed electrical and civil works being done in sections of Orange Line track. Furthermore, when the question of operating it came, there was dispute between CDA, NHA and Punjab MetroBus Authority. It was finally decided that CDA would run it until a Metro Bus Authority for Islamabad is created.

See also

* Rapid transit in Pakistan
*Lahore Metrobus
*Multan Metrobus
*Karachi Metrobus
*TransPeshawar

References

External links

Punjab Masstransit Authority website

Punjab transport department website

{{Bus rapid transit in Pakistan

Bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit in Pakistan
Transport in Islamabad
Transport in Rawalpindi
2015 establishments in Pakistan