Five years on, no sign of Karachi's Orange Line BRT completion

KARACHI: The Orange Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, which was launched under the supervision of the Sindh government on June 10, 2016, is nowhere near completion despite the passage of five years.

The Orange Line bus project was launched by former Sindh chief minister Qaim Ali Shah in June 2016 to facilitate about 50,000 residents of Orangi Town.

The Orange Line bus project covers a distance of four kilometres from the Orangi Municipal Office to Matriculation Board Chowrangi. A total of 18 buses would run under this system.

After the passage of five years, the elevated track on the project has been completed while work on four stations, four pedestrian bridges, and a depot is incomplete.

The project, which was dedicated to late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, was supposed to be completed within a year since its groundbreaking in 2016. The Sindh government had earmarked Rs1.14 billion for the completion of the project.

However, after five years, more than 30 per cent of the work is still to be done.

On the directives of Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, the deadline for the completion of the project had been set for November 2020 which later extended to March 2021.

Read More: KARACHI’S GREEN LINE BUS SERVICE ROUTE, FARES: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

Due to the slow pace of work, however, experts say that the project is expected to finish In February 2022.

Recently, the Sindh government announced to launch two new BRT lines in Karachi – Red Line and Yellow Line.

Read more: FIRST BATCH OF GREEN LINE BUSES REACHES KARACHI PORT

It is pertinent to mention here that Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate Karachi’s Green Line Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) project tomorrow (Friday).

Federal Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar said the commercial operation of the Green Line bus service would begin from December 25 after completing two-week trial.

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.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif performed the groundbreaking in 2016.