Prompted by the Sindh government’s plan to launch the Green Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service in November, Karachi’s city administration has expedited its efforts to complete the project and, in a recent development, a fleet of another 40 Green Line BRT buses has arrived at the shores of Karachi.
The buses were supposed to arrive at Karachi Port Trust (KPT) last week, however, due to the unavailability of a berth for the cargo vessel, MV IVY Ocean, at KPT, the delivery got delayed. With the previous batch of 40 new buses that reached Karachi a few weeks ago, the latest consignment has taken the total number of buses reaching their destination to 80.
The test run of the buses on a 23-km route (Surjani Town to Numaish Chowrangi) is currently underway and will continue for an entire month before the official launch by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The Green Line BRT project of 24 kilometers route includes a 12.7-km elevated track, a 10.9-km ground-level track, and a 422-meter underground track. The track that spans from Surjani Town to Numaish Chowrangi has 25 stations. Twenty-two stations, along with a depot, have been completed.
In his remarks during the first BRT consignment offloading ceremony a few weeks back, Federal Minister of Planning Development and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar, said the government was putting efforts to restore the glory of the city of lights. He had highlighted that five major projects under the Karachi Transformation Plan were in progress.
“Karachi is the biggest city of Pakistan. For the first time, a modern transport system is going to be launched here,” he said.