Rawalpindi: The Punjab government plans to launch 80 electric buses on different routes in the garrison city by mid-October.
Talk to it dawnDr. Hassan Waqar Ceema, deputy commissioner of Rawalpindi, said in the first phase that 80 electric buses will arrive in Rawalpindi in October and will start service from the second week of the month.
“Rawalpindi City will receive 80 environmentally friendly buses on new routes. The total length of these routes is 86 km, connecting Rawalpindi with the airport, train station, subway station, general bus station, Islamabad General Bus Station, Islamabad and the garrison city,” Ceema said.
He added that the electric bus system will be integrated with Islamabad’s transportation network, allowing seamless travel between the Twin Cities.
Punjab government launches environmentally friendly transportation system on 10 routes
He said the main goal of the provincial government is to reduce pollution in the Rawalpindi and state areas, while providing modern transportation systems related to subway and bus services.
Work has begun using bus warehouses that can accommodate up to 100 electric buses.
“To park the bus, we decided to build a warehouse on the land at 28 Peshawar Road,” he said. The country is already owned by the Transport and Mastransit department and has not raised any acquisition challenges.
The Regional Transportation Administration (RTA) has assigned 10 new routes to the service.
Route 1 will be from the train station to the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court, while Line 2 will cover Coral Chowk to Fawara Chowk.
The third highway will be from Umar Baig Chowk to Mandi Mor, and the fourth route from Munawar Colony to Saddar. Highway 5 will connect Marrir Chowk to the highway MOR, while Route 6 will be from Faizabad to Tramri Chowk.
Highway 7 will be route 8 from IJP Metro Station to Kuri Road and from Saddar to Lalarukh Colony. Route 9 will connect Umair Baig Road with Qadeemi Imambargah Mohallah, while the route to Will Saddar.
Mr Ceema said Rawalpindi, one of Pakistan’s major cities, has historically been an important commercial and administrative center, but its transportation infrastructure has been working to keep pace with rapid urbanization and population growth.
He noted that the Punjab metro bus system has provided some relief through dedicated fast transport services, but has not yet fully addressed the transport challenges as it mainly covers specific corridors and many communities are underserved.
“Many areas still lack adequate public transport, forcing residents to rely on private cars and informal services, which can exacerbate congestion and pollution,” he said.
He said that in response to these transport and environmental challenges, the Punjab government included two plans in its annual development plan for 2025-26. They include the development of induced electronics-Bast and urban bus warehouses with ally infrastructure.
He said that on October 25, 2024, PDWP had approved plans to induce E-Buses and efforts are underway to establish a bus warehouse with Allied infrastructure.
Posted at Dawn on September 27, 2025
