LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to extend the metro bus project to overcrowded routes in the provincial metropolis.

The decision was taken at a meeting on Monday with Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

In the extension programme, the bus will run from Jain Mandir up to the railway station through AG Office, GPO Chowk and Lakshmi Chowk in the first phase.

An official privy to the development told Dawn the route would be on an overhead bridge. On The Mall, it will pass through an underpass.

A Chinese construction company has also expressed its interest to take part in the project.

In the second phase, the official said, the bus route would be extended from the railway station up to Shalamar Gardens on GT Road. The Multan Road extension plan would be taken up in the third phase.

The metro bus is already plying on Gajju Mata-Shahdara route.

The meeting, he said, also gave a go-ahead signal for the Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro bus project, whose foundation stone is likely to be laid in two months.

More than 150,000 commuters are using the Gajju Matta-Shahdara bus service daily.