Three-week trial run of BRTS bus service begins

The operation of Metro buses being run under the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), which were off the road for over the last 17 months, resumed here on Friday. Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal flagged off the buses of route number 201 from India Gate to Golden Gate at Narayangarh.

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Speaking on the occasion, Dhaliwal said at present, these buses are being started on a trial basis and no fare will be charged from passengers for three weeks. After that, fare will be charged and the bus service will start on all routes. He said the company providing BRTS service had gone bankrupt about one and a half years ago due to which the Metro bus service had to be stopped on all routes. Now, on the demand of residents of the city, these buses are being run by the municipal corporation from today onwards. The MC will look after bus operations. “We assure that these buses will run continuously on the roads,” he said.

MC Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh said at present, five buses will run from India Gate to Golden Gate. This will cover Guru Nanak Dev University, Putlighar, railway station, the bus stand and other important routes. The time-table of the buses will be released after a week. Passengers can use the service free of cost for one month. He said after a month, 60 commercial buses will start running on the BRTS road.

Aulakh appealed to the city residents not to drive any private vehicle on the corridor of the BRTS from today onwards. Traffic police personnel have been deployed on the entry points of the corridor and challans will be issued if a person drives his vehicle on the dedicated routes of the BRTS. The violators will have to pay a heavy fine.