Karachi: Orange Line BRT depot yet to be completed

KARACHI: The Sindh government has shifted all the 20 buses of Orange Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) to the federal government’s Green Line BRT depot in Surjani Town as its depot near Bananas Chowk was yet to be completed.

Sindh Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon announced to make Orange Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project operational for Karachiites in the end of May.

The 20 buses, imported from China recently, were moved from Karachi Port to Surjani Town depot of the Green Line Bus Service as work on Banaras Chowk bus depot for Orange Line was not ready, it emerged.

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

According to the official, the depot at Banaras Chowk would be completed within a week.

Meanwhile, Sindh Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon also visited the segregated corridor of the Abdul Sattar Edhi Orange Line bus rapid transit (BRT) project on Sunday to review the pace of ongoing civil infrastructure development work, including completion of the bus depot and stations.

Visited final touches of the construction of orange line BRT. Buses are already reached. Drivers are training on buses. Inshallah it will be good relief for karachi in couple of weeks. pic.twitter.com/QrsfQDYIiP

— Sharjeel Inam Memon (@sharjeelinam) May 22, 2022

The Sindh Mass Transit Authority (SMTA) managing director, Capt (retd) Altaf Hussain Sario, and other SMTA officials were also present on the occasion.

Memon also ordered to complete the civil work by May 30.

“All the work, including construction of an underground fuel tank, wastewater plant, shade at the depot, and installation of elevators should be completed in time,” he directed.

Orange Line BRT

The Orange Line bus 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 Orange Line bus project will cover a distance of four kilometres from the Orangi Municipal Office to Matriculation Board Chowrangi. A total of 30 buses would run under this system.

The project, which was dedicated to late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, was supposed to be completed within a year since its groundbreaking in 2016.