KP buys 50 more buses for Peshawar BRT at Rs2.139bn

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has purchased 50 additional buses for the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system at a cost of Rs2.139 billion, with the total fleet expected to reach 296 once all newly purchased buses are delivered.

Provincial Finance Adviser Muzammil Aslam said 25 of the newly purchased buses had already arrived in Peshawar, while another 27 would be delivered in the next phase. He said two of those 27 buses were being provided by the company as a gift.

The arrival of the new buses has increased the BRT fleet from 244 to 269, while the total number will rise to 296 after all the buses are delivered, Aslam said.

He said the Peshawar BRT currently operates along a 27-kilometre route with a fleet of 244 buses before the latest additions.

Comparing the public transport systems of major cities, Aslam said Lahore’s metro system covers 28 kilometres with 64 buses, while Multan’s 18.7-kilometre route operates with 43 buses.

The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro operates on an 83-kilometre route with 99 buses, he added.

Aslam said Karachi, despite having a population several times larger than Peshawar, operates only 80 buses on its Green Line, while Punjab, with a population of around 130 million, has 107 metro buses.

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He said the combined number of metro buses operating in Karachi, Punjab and Islamabad stood at 286.

According to TransPeshawar, five of the existing 244 BRT buses will be designated for women. The agency said details of the routes for the pink buses would be finalised soon.

TransPeshawar had earlier recommended purchasing 100 additional buses to address the shortage in the BRT fleet.

The proposed procurement plan included 50 diesel-hybrid buses and 50 electric buses.

Following approval from the provincial cabinet, the government decided to purchase 50 diesel-hybrid buses in the first phase, while another 50 electric buses would be procured in the second phase.

TransPeshawar had initially estimated the total cost of procuring the 100 additional buses at Rs3.2 billion.