BRTS buses fail to attract passengers

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 20

Even after four months of the inauguration of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) project, the buses running under it failed to attract passengers. The buses are still ferrying a small number of passengers. Earlier, company officials assured of decrease in the bus fare but the proposal was yet to be implemented.

Ashwani Narang, manager of the Metro Bus Operating Company, said: “Company officials were planning to decrease the fare but we did not get any intimation till date. Higher officials in Chandigarh will decide about the same.”

Former Deputy Chief Minster Sukhbir Singh Badal had inaugurated the first phase of the project on December 14, 2016, before the Assembly elections. The bus used to traverse from the India Gate on the Amritsar-Attari bypass road to the Amritsar Railway Station. In the second phase, the bus started plying on the Verka Bypass-Vijay Nagar-Mall Road-Kitchlew Chowk-railway station route.

Initially, the company did not charge any fare for the first 10 days and it got an overwhelming response. But when the company started charging Rs 15 from the railway station to the India Gate, the number of passengers started decreasing.

During a recent visit of Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu residents demanded to decrease the fare. Sidhu assured them to intervene in the matter. Meanwhile, Sunil Dutti, a local MLA, also alleged that the BRTS project was a wastage of the public money and it should be reviewed.

According to information, there are 14 buses running on the two routes. More than 50 buses are parked in the bus terminal at the Batala Road bypass. These buses would start after the under-construction route from the railway station to the bus stand would be completed.

Meanwhile, the company officials said the number of passengers had been increasing with the increase in the day temperature. All buses are equipped with air conditioners (ACs) and passengers prefer to travel in AC buses in such a weather.