Construction work on Karachi's Red Line BRT project set to begin as govt awards contract

KARACHI: The Sindh government has awarded the contract for the civil work of the much-awaited Red Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project to be constructed in Karachi, ARY News reported on Monday.

The contract signing ceremony for the design and construction supervision of the RED Line BRT corridor was held here in Karachi today.

Sindh Transport Minister Syed Awais Qadir Shah was the chief guest of the contract ceremony signed between the private firm and TransKarachi.

Talking to the media after the contract signing ceremony, Sindh Transport Minister Awais Qadir said that the Red Line BRT project would be constructed with the help of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the share of the Sindh govt in the construction of the transport project would be 70pc.

“Karachi’s Red Line BRT is the country’s largest and modern bus rapid transit project,” he said, adding that 213 bio-gas buses will be purchased for the project.

He further shared that a bio-gas plant would be constructed at cattle colony Karachi.

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.

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24 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