ISLAMABAD: The expected operator of the Peshawar Mor to New Airport Metro Bus Service has said route 2 of the project, starting from Golra Mor on GT Road, is not feasible.

The Punjab Masstransit Authority (PMA) has proposed that the National Highway Authority (NHA) should not construct a separate corridor for the 16 kilometre route and that the authority should instead start a shuttle service from GT Road to the new Islamabad airport.

The operator’s observations come when construction work on the track from Peshawar Mor to the new airport has started. The track is expected to be complete by August 14 this year though it seems unlikely contactors will be able to meet the deadline.

The NHA started construction work on the 25.6 km track in March this year without getting mandatory approval for the project worth Rs16 billion from the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency.

The Punjab Masstransit Authority says a shuttle service should be started instead

NHA officials told Dawn the PMA submitted its observations to them through an official letter in which it has said that because it was non-rapid, route 2 should not be given a separate corridor.

“We reiterate our advice that regular metro stations on Route 2 must be cancelled,” PMA has said.

“The purpose of the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) is to provide people with transportation facilities and avoid congestion on roads. However, there are no traffic issues on GT Road till the new airport, so there is no need for separate corridors at the cost of billions of rupees and a shuttle service should be started instead,” a PMA official said.

The letter said operations on route 2 will be carried out at all times, all year round whereas operations on route 1 will only be open from 6am to 10pm.

“The headway on Route 2 will undergo hourly variations subject to frequency [of] arriving and departing flights. Hourly headway variations in metro bus operation are not implementable. Hence the [entire planning] and design of the consultant is factually inadequate to allow sustainable operations,” PMA has observed.

The operator has said that by combining routes 1 and 2 as a linear operation, the consultant has vitiated findings of their own study.

“The airport operates on [a three shift] basis i.e. morning, afternoon and night. The end of the second shift and start of the third shift at the airport cannot be accommodated on route 1 due to very scarce ridership, besides the new airport itself is low generator, attractor based on employment to warrant a metro service for public transportation of airport staff all time,” the letter reads.

It says passengers for the airport will not all come from Islamabad and will also come from Rawalpindi and from nearby intercity bus stations on GT Road and will use metro 2 on a 24-hour basis. All those travelling to Islamabad will also not be coming from the airport and will come from Rawalpindi and from nearby intercity bus stations and will go to Islamabad from GT Road using route 1 during operational hours.

The PMA has said that all stations between GT Road and NHA are currently rural and sub-urban areas and are not likely to attract enough passengers to warrant the construction of BRT type stations for non-rapid service.

Due to large headway of 19 minutes or more, the letter says, operations on route 2 is not rapid and therefore designs for stations on this route should facilitate waiting passengers which is not possible in a paid area such as a BRT platform because amenities such as toilets, food outlets and others are necessary when passengers have to wait for longer periods.

The letter recommends that a parking area in conjunction with a depot on the south of GT Road can facilitate the use of shuttle buses on route 2 though the buses will not be operated on a constant headway, i.e. they will be launched according to demand.

The same letter also includes the response from Nespak, which says that PMA is proposing two separate systems for the route which is not recommended.

It says PMA is proposing a shuttle service based on an estimated 19 minute headway saying headways of less than five minutes do not signify the need for a BRT system. This is not acceptable as in mass transit operations, peak buses are run for 15 to 30 minute headways and that shuttle service will discourage airport passengers from using the BRT system.

Nespak has said that airport bound passengers will take the metro from all stations along the metro red and orange lines with the transfer station at Peshawar Mor. If passengers use the metro lines to get to GT Road, why can they not use the same system for the metro bus to reach the airport and why is a separate bus with different features and stations needed to take them to the airport, Nespak has asked.

The PMA is unmoved by Nespak’s observations and wrote to NHA, conveying its concerns.

When senior officer of PMA’s planning wing Mohammad Imran was contacted, he said: “We have conveyed our observations to NHA through an official letter, there response is awaited.” However, he refused to share the content of the letter.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2017