Karachi's Green Line BRT: Half bus stations still non-functional

KARACHI: Karachi’s Green Line Bus Rapid Transit service has finally started operations for the public from December 25 (today).

The Green Line bus service initially will be operational for four hours from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon and the fares would range between Rs15 to Rs55.

For now, limited stations have been opened for the public as work on some of the bus stops is still underway.

Speaking to ARY News, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar confirmed that 11 out of 22 bus stations have been fully made functional while the remaining 11 BRT stations will be ready by January 10.

“The service will begin its full-fledged operations from January 10,” he said.

The federal minister pointed out that significant progress was made on all five projects of Krrachi Transformation Plan (KTP) including the Green Line BRT Project, K-IV Water project, cleaning of three nullahs, Karachi Circular Railways and Railway Freight Corridor.

The route and stations

The bus service will start from KESC Powerhouse Chowrangi in Surjani Town and terminate at Municipal park after passing through Nagan Chowrangi, North Nazimabad, Nazimabad and Gurumandir, with 25 stations along its route. The bus service will cater to 300,000 passengers on a daily basis.

The 80 buses will be operated by 200 drivers who have completed their training.

Around 22 stations between Surjani Town and Numaish Chowrangi have been completed. Another three stations to extend the service to Municipal Park are yet to be constructed.

The Green Line project

Karachi’s Green Line BRT project with intersections is 22 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.