TAXILA: Punjab Minister for Transport and Mass Transit Bilal Akbar Khan has announced that an electric green bus service will be launched in Attock from April, with an initial fleet of 15 buses to operate on key routes.

He was talking to newsmen in Attock on Tuesday afterchairing a high-level meeting at the Deputy Commissioner’s Office in Attock,which wasattended by Punjab Chief Minister’s Monitoring Committee and former provincial minister Jahangir Khanzada and Deputy Commissioner Rao Atif Raza.

The minister said the initiative reflects the Punjab government’s commitment to modernizing public transport and ensuring relief for citizens through improved travel facilities.

The ministeradded thatsix additional routes have been identifiedin Attockfor future expansion, although implementation has been delayed due to longer distances.

He added that depot facilities will be established at the tehsil level to extend services to remote areas, particularly to Pindigheb and otherunderservedregions.

MrBilalsaid thatthe electric bus service will initially operate on routes linking Attock with Haji Shah, Fatehjang, Hasan Abdal, Hazro and Attock Khurdwhile each bus will run on a hybrid energy system and is expected to cover approximately 300 kilometers per day.

“To reduce operational expenses, a special tariff has been introduced for electric vehicle charging, lowering the cost to around Rs35 per unit compared to the usual Rs60 to Rs70 per unitwhile each bus is expected to completedailyfive trips daily, with each round trip covering about 60 kilometers and taking between one to one-and-a-half hours, depending on traffic androute”, he added. Responding to a question, he said that plans are also underway to upgrade bus stands in Attock and Fatehjang, while a proposal has been submitted to relocate theAttock’sbus terminal outside the city to ease congestion.

Responding to a question about traditional overcharging by the transporter mafia on the eve of holy festivals, the minister announced strict enforcement measures ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, stating that a special squad has been formed to curb overcharging and other violations by commercial transporters.

Officials informed that fines exceeding Rs14 million have already been imposed on violators.

Later, the minister visited the General Bus Stand Attock, where he inspected the control room and complaint cell and interacted with passengers to hear their concerns.

He also visited the CM Punjab First Women Bazaar project, where ongoing construction work was reviewed.Meanwhile, the Punjab transport minister visited Pirwadhai General Bus Stand in Rawalpindi to review the facilities provided to passengers.

On this occasion, the provincial minister inquired about travel fares from passengers who were home on Eid. The provincial minister also visited the waiting room and inquired about travel facilities from passengers.

He said that on the instructions of Punjab chief minister, he is visiting different cities to review the provision of the best travel facilities to the people. No one will be allowed to cheat on travel fares on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr.

In this regard, the administration is following a zero-tolerance policy. The provincial minister said that strict legal action will be taken against those charging extra fares.

The provincial minister directed that the travel fares be displayed on the front screen. The provincial minister heard the problems of the transporters and assured them of resolving them.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2026