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Punjab is Getting 300 Electric Buses for Public Transport

In a bid to electrify its public transportation, the Punjab transport department has announced that this year, they will be introducing 300 battery-powered buses.

Aside from this, the pilot plan will also introduce all-electric motorbikes and three-wheelers. Asad Gilani, transport secretary, Punjab said that the initiative is part of the government’s plan to curb emissions and pollution in the country.

Three cities of Punjab, namely Lahore, Faisalabad and Gujranwala are consistently ranked in the 30 most polluted cities on earth, as per AirVisual data.


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Gilani said, “There are two models of buses we are looking at, the eight-meter and the 12-meter long bus,” adding that “We are though more inclined towards the eight-meter one.” He added that the buses will be brought from China and Austria.

Although, there is no concrete timeframe for when these buses will be seen on the roads, he added that the aim is to “introduce them before smog descends on Lahore.”

While Lahore is the second-largest city of the country, it only has 300 public buses and 500 mini-vans, according to the Lahore Transport Company (LTC). Shehryar Hassan, a senior official said, “The city needs at least 1,500 public buses to meet its need.”

As of November, only 45 state-owned buses are on the roads because the contract for the others has expired. On the other hand, the new buses will need recharging stations across the province and a single bus will need to be charged for six hours for an entire day’s usage.

One critique has been aimed at the government that with electric blackouts in the country, how the buses will run. Gilani responded by saying, “There is a misconception that Pakistan has an electricity shortage,” insists Gilani, “We have an excess capacity which is often underutilized.”


  • ….and very same Gov. was saying powering orange train with electricity was a bad decision ?

    • Train runs on high electricity but buses will run on batteries which consume low power. First you required to understand about technology.

      • A single train can carry 4.5x to 10x the amount of passangers when compared to a bus. Moreover, we are not comparing a single bus to a single train because it will be idiotic to compare a bus which carries only 50 to 100 people to a train which carries 1000+ people. So operating hundreds of buses compared to a few trains will be insanely expensive. Electricity isn’t the only thing here which is determined to find the operating cost. Repairs, employees (driver, TC, mechanics) also contribute.
        Before understanding technology you need to understand basic maths.

  • Faisalabad should be given the first priority because lahore already have metro bus, orange line and lit more other routes across the city.

  • Government should think of technology transfer instead of importing buses … buses can be built much cheaper in Pakistan

  • The busses will consume electricity and 70% of electricity is being produced by fossil fuels so what’s the difference? With these electric busses we need to generate more electricity from fossil fuels because new hydro projects need 8 to 10 years to be constructed and it also need $7-$15 billions for a single hydro power project ranging 500MW to 3500MW which is not possible in such economic conditions.
    First, govt need to shift to green energy then with the implementation of electric vehicles, we can say that we have a green energy policy.
    Govt can also provide subsidy to a home owner for solar system

  • EV buses are the best mobility surface transport mode in the world. Lahore and related areas are one of the highest polluted cities in the world. Studies, surveys indicates the coal fired power plants in India could possibly be a possible cause for the heavy pollution. Studies/investigations can be done to the exact location of the pollutants from the respective co-ordinates Longitude/latitude.
    Honorable Secretary transport Mr. Asad Gilani concern is valid and of concern and the standards of Punjab Transport is a pride of Pakistan.

  • پھر ایسی اپ ڈیٹ سننے میں آئے گی. شاہدرہ سے اقبال ٹاؤن جانے والی بس لوڈشیڈنگ کی وجہ سے چارجنگ پوری نہ ھونے کی بنا پر 3 گھنٹے بعد روانہ ھو گی. ابھی ھم جنریٹر کی مدد سے چارج کر رھے ھیں. سواریوں سے 20 روپے کرایہ اضافی وصول کیا جائے گا. شکریہ ی


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