BRT Peshawar resumes service but with expired tyres

After over a five-week-long suspension due to the repeated incidents of buses catching fire, the BRT Peshawar service was resumed on Saturday as the Chinese experts inspected and repaired the vehicles, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

However, there is another serious issue that has been ignored. It is about the tyres which have expired after completing the three-year period. That’s why those dealing with the business say incidents of tyre burst and getting punctured cannot be ruled out.

These buses were procured over three years ago and have since then remained parked while being affected by seasonal effects ranging from extreme heat to rains.

On September 16, the BRT service was suspended after a fourth vehicle caught with Mohammad Umar Khan, a spokesman for TransPeshawar that runs the buses, saying that the fire erupted at the rear a bus on the Hayatabad route. All passengers were safely evacuated, Umar said. 

He said the company would have all the buses inspected again by the manufacturer.

Initially, the Chinese engineers were unable to figure out what’s wrong with the buses as they failed so far to pinpoint the cause leading to the multiple fire incidents.

However, it was reported later that the engineers managed to understand the problem and decided to replace the necessary equipment.

In this connection, TransPeshawar said that the necessary equipment would be installed in all the buses.

The project was inaugurated by Prime Minister Imran Khan on August 14 after multiple delays. He had called it “the highest-level metro project of the country”. At least 128 buses ply a 27-kilometre track with 30 stations in the city.