Lahore-Amritsar bus to start end July

* Will run thrice a week

By Mohammed Rizwan

LAHORE: The Lahore-Amritsar bus service will start by the end of July, as the Punjab government has approved for the bus to run thrice a week.

“The federal government asked us about logistics, security and other issues relating to the bus service and we told them that everything was ready on our side and that the service could start as early as the end of this month,” a senior Punjab Tourism Ministry official told Daily Times on Sunday.

India and Pakistan had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Islamabad in May to start running a bus on the 56-kilometre journey. However, at the time of the signing of the MoU, both sides were not sure of the details of the service including the number of times it would run and other arrangements. Indian Transport Secretary Alok Rawat and Pakistan Communications Secretary Mohammad Abbas signed the MoU.

“There are no logistics or any other issues. The only issue is security, which will be dealt by federal agencies and not by us,” the official said, adding, “The service will run thrice a week on alternate days. It won’t run on days the Lahore-Delhi bus operates.”

However, he said no developments had yet been made on the proposed Nankana Sahib-Amritsar bus service. Reports in the Indian media suggest that the Indian Punjab Roadways Authority has also cleared the Indian Home Ministry on the Lahore-Amritsar bus service. The bus from Lahore will start from Gulberg, while the bus from Amritsar will leave from International Youth Hostel.

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