ISLAMABAD: The new metro bus service is set to offer significant facilities to the commuters as its station is hardly 100 metres away from the terminals on the ground floor of Islamabad International Airport (IIA). With the test runs of the service underway, more buses are on the way to Pakistan from China.

Fatima, who recently used the service, told Dawn that it will be nothing short of a blessing for those employed at the airport. However, the National Highway Authority (NHA) and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) that have worked on the project need more coordination to resolve some issues.

Since its launch, a large number of people, including women from the Airport Security Force, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and other services, have been seen waiting for boarding the buses.

“Travelling for men is much easier but it can be a serious challenge for women on a daily basis. Usually, we would share rides from terminal 26 to the airport and have to wait for at least three other women to join us so we could comfortably board the bus. But our male colleagues would easily sit in the front seat,” Ms Fatima added.

Apart from dysfunctional services such as generators, escalators and elevators and automated gates at the platforms, there are some serious design flaws at the station.

The most obvious problem is the absence of a dedicated trolley stand near the IIA bus station.

“Let’s say someone is travelling alone and they have a lot of luggage, would they leave the luggage at the station to go to find a trolley?” said Asmat Zehra, adding she came to the airport using the new bus service only to see the route.

Relevant officers of the NHA said they received the same suggestion from officials which was why a trolley stand was under construction at the airport station.

Another major flaw in the design at the station seems to be in the seating area where due to a large space left open between the glass wall and ceiling problems may arise for people during harsh weather conditions such as rainy days or in the winter.

Apart from this, instead of installing iron grills or concrete barriers along the track to protect it from traffic, only delineators have been placed on both sides of it.

Incidentally, officers of both the CDA and the NHA, when asked about the project, blamed each other saying the other side was less enthusiastic about it.

Currently, the bus service operates in two parts: the first one is from Faiz Ahmed Faiz station to N5 station, also known as the Chungi No 26. Locals and students seeking to travel towards National University of Science and Technology (Nust), G-13 and G-14 use this route. The second part of the service operates from the N5 station towards the airport.

“This service will not only be continuous but will also operate in a scheduled manner soon after the dedicated 30 buses reaches in about two weeks,” said a senior official of the CDA, which is responsible for operating the service.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2022