Govt all set to start work on Karachi's Yellow Line BRT project

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali on Thursday presided over a meeting to review arrangements regarding the construction work on Karachi’s Yellow Line BRT project, ARY News reported.

The meeting was attended by Sindh Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, the World Bank delegation and Sindh transport and mass transit department.

During the meeting, Transport Minister briefed the meeting that Yellow Line BRT is 21km project that would start from Dawood Chowrangi and end at Numasih.

Under the conceptual plan, Karachi’s Yellow Line BRT project with intersections is 21 km long which includes 17.6 km at grade, and 3.2km underground, and has 28 stations.

CM #Sindh @MuradAliShahPPP presides over a meeting to finalize BRT Yellow Line. The 21km project would start from Dawood Chowrangi to Numasih. The transport dept is directed to complete the formalities to start the work on the project promptly. pic.twitter.com/4VfHlqJviq

— Sindh Information Department (@sindhinfodepart) November 10, 2022

The chief minister directed the minister for the construction of a new four-lane one-kilometer-long bridge, adjacent to the existing Jam Sadiq Bridge.

In the previous meeting, the provincial government and WB had agreed to repair the Jam Sadiq Bridge that has spent its life and is in a state of dilapidation.

CM Murad also directed the transport department to start the construction work on the project soon by completing all formalities.

Yellow Line BRT

The Yellow Line BRT covers a distance of 21 kilometres from Dawood Chowrangi to Numaish Chowrangi.

The total cost of the project will be $438.9 million, of which the World Bank will have a share of $381.9 million, the Sindh government will pay $19.5 million.

Under the conceptual plan, eight underpasses will be constructed at Murtaza Chowrangi, Singer Chowrangi, Bilal Chowrangi, Vita Chowrangi, Shaan Chowrangi, Brooks Chowrangi, Khayaban-e-Ittehad, Korangi Road intersection, and at the Sunset Boulevard intersection. In addition, the Jam Sadiq Bridge will also be widened.

Karachi Breeze project

‘Karachi breeze’

Karachi Breeze is a 112.9 km (70.2 mi) network of Bus Rapid Transit lines under construction in Karachi. The name was officially given by the Sindh Mass Transit Authority for Karachi’s Bus and Mass Rapid Transit system.

However, only two lines, Green Line and Orange Line BRTs have started services in Karachi. The construction work on Red Line BRT and KCR is underway.

Green Line BRT

Karachi’s Green Line BRT project with intersections is 24 km long which includes 12.7 km elevated, 10.9 km at grade, and 422 meters underground, and has 25 stations.

The phase-II common corridor from Gurumandir up to Municipal Park with a length of 2.5 km has two underpasses at M.A Jinnah Road.

The state-of-art underground bus terminal with a parking facility and the commercial mezzanine floor was also constructed at Numaish intersection.

The construction work on Phase-I of the project was started in 2016. The project was launched by then Prime Minister Imran Khan in December last yaear

Orange Line BRT

The Orange Line corridor is 3.88 kilometres long and provides connectivity from Orangi Town to the Board Office traffic intersection. It has five stations while its depot has the capacity to park 30 buses.

The Orange Line BRT project was renamed after the late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi as Abdul Sattar Edhi Line by the Sindh government in May.

The project was launched by former Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah in June 2016 to facilitate about 50,000 residents of Orangi Town. The project was supposed to be completed within a year since its groundbreaking in 2016.

Read: FIVE YEARS ON, NO SIGN OF KARACHI’S ORANGE LINE BRT COMPLETION

Red Line BRT

The Red Line will span 26 km from Safoora to Tower. It is expected to have an average daily ridership of 625,000 passengers.

The route of the 26-kilometer BRT Red Line project will connect Model Colony to Johar Complex en route Jinnah Avenue and Malir Cantt while the buses will run through University Road, Hassan Square and Numaish roundabout.

4 stations would be constructed on this line which will run from Malir Halt to Numaish via Model Colony, Safoora Goth, King Cottages, Met Office, NED University, Safari Park, Nipa, Urdu University, Masjid Baitul Mukarram, Civic Centre, Askari Park, Dawood University and Society Office.

It would be the first-ever transport project to be run without any subsidy by the government, whereas, a wide cycling track will also be built along with the bus route.

Yellow Line BRT

The Yellow Line BRT covers a distance of 21 kilometres from Dawood Chowrangi to Numaish Chowrangi.

The total cost of the project will be $438.9 million, of which the World Bank will have a share of $381.9 million, the Sindh government will pay $19.5 million.

Meanwhile, the buses for the Yellow Line project will be procured on a public-private partnership basis.

Blue Line BRT

According to the Sindh Mass Transit Authority (SMTA), which was established under the SMTA Act 2016, Blue Line is a proposed bus rapid transit project. The project’s initial planning suggests that the 9.6-kilometre-long project was designed to go from Al-Asif Square in Sohrab Goth to Gurumandir through Shahrah-i-Pakistan.

At Gurumandir, the project will link with the Green Line project, which is being funded by the federal government.

KCR project

Former prime minister Imran Khan performed the groundbreaking of the long-awaited Karachi Circular Railway project last year in September.

The Public-Private Partnership Authority (P3A) earlier this year approved new Karachi Circular Railway project. The new KCR is being built with an estimated cost of Rs292 billion on the basis of a public-private partnership.

Karachi Circular Railway envisaged the construction of a 43km-long world-class affordable mass transit system using environment-friendly electric trains.