OLMT annual deficit: 50pc cut in fares proposed to rope in more commuters.

LAHORE -- The Punjab Masstransit Authority (PMA) has proposed a 50 per cent cut in its per stop fare to attract more passengers and generate revenue.

The authority also aims to commercialise its stations to earn revenue by setting up shops selling snacks and beverages to prospective commuters.

The authority has submitted the proposal to the government to decrease the fares of the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) due to huge income and expenditure difference. The annual expenditure of OLMT is Rs5 billion and the earning is Rs1bn. The authority has been planning to decrease the annual difference between expenditure and earning for quite some time but has yet to work out any solid plan to curtail the expenditure.

During the last two years, the authority had proposed several suggestions to cut down the expenditure and increase the income to the Punjab cabinet but no plan has been approved.

Recently, the Punjab Masstransit Authority had suggested to the Punjab cabinet to decrease the fares of the OLMT and start charging per kilometre ticket. The authority officials are of the view that the intercity three-wheelers charge Rs30 per stop while the OLMT minimum ticket costs a passenger Rs40.

The officials further said the passengers preferred to travel by Qingqi rickshaws rather than OLMT due to the low cost of travelling per kilometre. The officials prepared a strategy to adjust the fares of the train in four brackets and charge per kilometre rate from passengers to compete with the rickshaws operating on the route.

They also proposed that the train stations should be commercialised to increase the income and submitted these proposals to the government for the third time.

The PMA has again proposed to charge per kilometre fare of the train and sent the recommendations to the cabinet for approval. According to the suggestions...