The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has made a specific directorate for the Orange Line Metro Bus, called the ‘Directorate of Metro Bus Operations’.
According to CDA, the execution work on the Orange Line Metro Bus has been completed by the National Highway Authority (NHA) and the process of handing over the service between CDA and NHA will soon be complete.
The CDA is overseeing the project’s operations, for which the directorate has been established and a Grade 19 officer, Nouman Sheikh, has been appointed as the Director of the Metro Bus Operations. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Rawalpindi Islamabad Metro Bus Authority for the initial operations of this project, as revealed by the CDA.
The CDA is utilizing the buses and the depot of Rawalpindi Islamabad Metro Bus Authority for the initial operations. The process for the construction of a separate depot for the Orange Line Metro Bus is underway and the buses will reach Pakistan in May. Until now, the CDA has been using 15 buses and the technical assistance of the Rawalpindi Islamabad Metro Bus Authority.
The CDA stated that the project includes a number of services, each with a separate tender and vendor selection. A vendor has been selected for the establishment of the intrusion prevention systems (IPS) and surveillance system, and the process for the selection of vendors for janitorial and housekeeping services is underway.
Similarly, separate vendors will be selected for command-and-control systems and security operations, and the contracting of bidding for the establishment of depo will be opened next week. CDA officials say that some budgets for project operations have been estimated and the rest are being estimated.
The project was launched by the Nawaz Sharif-led government in 2017 and was assumed to be completed in 2018 but was unduly delayed in the last four years. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the mass transit bus service on 18 April and the 25.6 km long bus route will benefit an estimated 50,000 commuters on a daily basis.
