LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif inaugurated on Monday the Lahore Feeder Bus Service to feed the metro bus service, extending the service to virtually the entire city.

Up to 200 air conditioned buses will ply from 6am to 11pm covering 130km on 14 routes, to bring passengers for the metro bus service.

Mr Sharif told the audience at the inaugural ceremony at Model Town that the the buses would serve around 120,000 commuters a day – from the places closer to their residences to the main metro route.

He announced that Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Multan – with the metro services of their own - would also soon get the service. The commuters will have electronically issued cards that could recharge once spent. The buses would charge a commuter Rs15; a commuter can pay another Rs20 for Metro Bus Service. In this way, both services would be interlinked.

Taking a jibe on the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, he said “I don’t want to comment on anything. However, (Imran Khan) Niazi Sahib is working on the same Jangla bus project in Peshawar, which he criticised a lot in the past. I don’t call it Jangla bus but will congratulate Peshawar people on the inaugural of splendid bus system that will facilitate the common man. ”

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2017