Basant brings record rush to Lahore as 900,000 vehicles enter city during festival

LAHORE (Dunya News) - The vibrant Basant Festival triggered an unprecedented surge in movement across Lahore, with official figures revealing that 900,000 vehicles entered the city over three days, reflecting massive public participation in the celebrations.

Public transport usage also reached record levels during the festival.

Over the course of two days, nearly 1.4 million passengers traveled on the Orange Line Metro Train, Metro Bus, Feeder Buses, Electric Buses, and other government-run transport services, benefiting from free travel facilities provided on the occasion of Basant.

According to transport authorities, the Orange Line Metro Train served 299,000 passengers on Friday and 305,000 on Saturday, with more than 600,000 commuters availing themselves of free rides over the two days.

Also Read: Basant festivities extended in Lahore till 5am on CM Maryam's orders

Similarly, the Metro Bus service recorded 143,000 passengers on Friday and 135,000 on Saturday, bringing the total to 278,000.

The Speedo Feeder bus network transported 174,000 passengers on Friday and 182,000 on Saturday, totaling 357,000 commuters.

On electric feeder bus routes, 15,000 passengers traveled each day, accounting for 30,000 free rides, while buses operating under the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) facilitated 60,000 passengers over the two days.

Officials further stated that Green Electric Buses carried 25,000 passengers on Friday and 27,000 on Saturday, with a combined total of 52,000 commuters benefiting from the free service.

Authorities confirmed that 419 buses remained operational on the final day of the Basant Festival to facilitate free public travel across Lahore.