With the inauguration of Metro Bus Service, Pakistan has joined the metro transport club of 147 countries. The 27-kilometer, two-lane, 10-metre-wide road has been prepared with a speed capacity of 60km/h. However, the speed limit has been fixed at 40km/h. The government claims that the total cost of the project is Rs 29.8 billion, and the project has been completed in 11 months. There are 29 stations of the bus from Shahdara to Gajju Matta. The project has 104 escalators and 664 platform doors. A 3.8km portion of the track is elevated and two rotaries have been constructed – at Jain Mander and MAO College – with one roundabout between them. As much as 338,000 tonnes of concrete and 40,000 tonnes of steel has been used in the project. A total of nine million man-hours’ labour was made to complete the project. In the elevated track, 60,000 tonnes of concrete and two million tonnes of steel has been used. Each bus has a seating capacity of 38+1. However, it is spacious and has a vast capacity for standing passenger, which can accommodate 150 people. Its annual payback has been calculated at 24.6 percent of the total cost.
Feb 112013
