LAHORE: The new contractor of Metrobus service will resume the operations from Wednesday (today) with a fleet of 60 vehicles after a three-week break caused by the strike of the drivers and other staff against the previous contractor -- Albayrak -- over non-payment of arrears, bonuses and other benefits.

The drivers, who had also demanded experience certificates and gratuity, ended the protest after the new contractor took over the charge. They had announced to move court for getting their issues redressed and demanded the government should not return the security amount to the previous contractor till their demands were met.

Punjab government had signed an agreement with a local company -- Veda Transit Solutions -- and a group of local banks to replace the existing fleet of 64 buses running on the 27-kilometre-long track of the Lahore Metro Bus System last year.

As per the agreement, the new contractor, that took over the charge of the bus service on September 1, will manage it for the next eight years. The project is expected to pave the way for more such initiatives in future for the masses, reducing the air pollution challenges the country was faced with.

The contractor had started training metrobus drivers since Sept 2, announcing to resume the service on Sept 8.

Under the supervision of the Mass Transit Authority, the trial run of the new buses was conducted, running the vehicles from Gajjumatta to Shahdara.During the three-week suspension of the bus service from Shahdara to Gajjumatta, thousands of daily commuters had to use costly transport to reach their destinations.

Punjab Mass Transit Authority General Manager (Operations) Uzair Shah told Dawn that it was unfortunate that the metrobus service remained suspended for three weeks, causing inconvenience to people. He said the new contractor had completed the training of the drivers and the bus operations would resume on Wednesday (today).

He said the new contractor had also recruited fresh drivers, besides giving contracts to some of the old one who worked with Albayrak.

The metrobus service was launched in the city in February, 2013. The project, first of its kind in Pakistan, is facilitating 150,000 passengers’ travel daily within the metropolitan city.

The bus operation had been entrusted to M/s Platform Turizm – a subsidiary of Albayrak for a period of seven years. However, the company continued to function on extensions granted by the government after expiry of the contract. The ongoing extension period ended on Aug 31 after which VEDA Transit Solution has taken over the charge.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2021