KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate the Green Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project today (Friday), the port city’s first mass transit system.
Addressing a press conference along with Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, Federal Planning Minister Asad Umar said the commercial operations of mass transit will commence from December 25 after a trial of about two weeks.
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 135,000 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 government has yet to announce the ticket prices for the Green Line BRT project. However, according to experts, the government will set Rs15 minimum and Rs55 maximum prices for bus service.
Delays
The Green Line project has suffered several hiccups over the years since its groundbreaking in February 2016 by then prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
The project was originally estimated to get completed within a year with an estimated cost of Rs16.85 billion funded by the federal government.
Read More: KARACHI’S GREEN LINE BUS SERVICE ROUTE, FARES: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
However, it took more than five years and Rs35bn to finish and years of frustration, stress and painful experiences of hundreds of thousands of Karachiites.
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.
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