The official launch of the Orange Line Metro to Islamabad Airport is facing an additional delay because of political interference and pressures from various operators, media reported.
According to the details, unresolved disputes associated with the bus service are causing delaying in its formal launch, incurring a massive loss to the government with respect to subsidy whereas the civic body of Islamabad has shifted 15 buses of the Orange Line Airport Service to the blue and green lines which were inaugurated by the PM Shehbaz Sharif last week.
Meanwhile, a senior official stated that the launch will be further postponed as the contractor for infrastructure development has still not completed the trials of escalators, elevators, and automatic glass doors at the platforms – which are all non-functioning currently.
Sources further reported that the Airport Metro’s schedule has already been changed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) on the account of business-related disputes between the operator of the airport metro and the operator of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro bus service.
Read more: Twin cities get 4-line interconnected metro bus service with new Green, Blue services
They said that 30 buses belonging to the Orange Line arrived in Islamabad about a month ago. However, up to now working contracts with the company responsible to drive and maintain the buses have only been hired for the blue and green lines. Out of the total 30 buses, ten and five are to be utilized for the blue and green lines, respectively.
In contrast, 15 buses taken from the Red Line – Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus Service in April to run on a trial basis continue to operate whereas buses coming from China have been parked at the Peshawar Mor Metro Bus Terminal for over a month.
Moreover, due to postponements in the handing over of the new buses to the operator, the government continues to suffer a huge loss at the airport route because the operator is charging Rs 405 per kilometer from CDA and is constantly warning to move to the court against the authority regarding the delay in the contract’s signing.
