Days after the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transport resumed services after a month-long hiatus, another one of its buses broke down near Firdous Station, Peshawar, on Wednesday.
Dunya News reported that a crane was called by the authorities to remove the bus from the track after it malfunctioned midway.
This is not the first a BRT bus broke down. Last month, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had to order an investigation after multiple BRT buses caught fire. The TransPeshawar, the government-owned company set up to manage bus operations, temporarily suspended the service in the wake of these fires.
A subsequent report had revealed the fire incidents in the buses were caused by the malfunctioning of a motor controller installed between hybrid batteries and electric motors.
However, after a thorough investigation, the bus service was resumed on Oct 24, after 38 days. A statement issued by the TransPeshawar at the time said that the service was launched on Saturday morning and would continue from 6am to 10pm.
It said it had also launched express bus service, which would begin from Chamkani and make stops at Sardar Ghari, Lahori Adda, Hashtnagri, Malik Saad, Khyber Bazaar, Dabgari Garden, Saddar Bazaar, Peshawar University, Mall of Hayatabad and Karkhano Market.
The BRT bus service was launched on Aug 13 by Prime Minister Imran Khan amid much fanfare. However, it was suspended on Sept 16 in the wake of four fire incidents in buses.
