The Metro bus service is doing well in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. A new route from Peshawar Morr to New Islamabad Airport is under development and will become operational within the next few months. The government is procuring 30 more Metro buses for this route between the twin cities.
Out of the 30 buses, 24 will operate from Peshawar Mor to N5 bus station near G.T. Road. The other six will go from N5 to the airport with extra space for luggage.
The Metro bus extension project was initially under the National Highway Authority (NHA). The NHA constructed the corridors and stations on the 25.6 km-long track in Rs. 16 billion and then handed the project to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in March 2021. CDA took the project over with a funding of Rs. 300 million for the fiscal year 2020-21.
Financial Biddings for the Procurement of Buses
Recently, CDA’s technical committee opened financial biddings for the procurement of Metro buses and received different responses from local and international companies.
The Financial Evaluation Committee qualified three bidders for the project.
One of the qualifying bidders was the Chinese automobile manufacturer, Foton. The company had placed a bid of Rs. 33 million for each bus.
Another international company called Auto Park placed the same bid of Rs. 33 million for one Metro bus.
The third bidder was a local automobile manufacturing company called the Master Motor Corporation Limited (MMCL), and they presented a bid of Rs. 29.8 million per bus.
The lowest bidder was the Higer Bus Company from China. They submitted a bid of Rs. 24.2 million for each bus with a total budget of Rs. 728 million for 30 Metro buses.
As per the project officials, the lowest bid of Rs. 24.2 million would be presented before the CDA management for final approval. If approved, the orders will be placed to the company to provide buses. The company will then provide the buses within four months, and the bus service will be made operational soon after.
