ACCO PAKISTAN

Karachi is a pulsating megacity where millions of people commute on a daily basis. The biggest economic hub of Pakistan still lacks a proper mass transit system. The authorities have recently revived the Karachi Circular Railway, but it runs on a limited route and caters to only a small chunk of the population of the megalopolis.

The city is in dire need of an efficient mega transportation project like Lahore and Islamabad metro bus systems. So, for the betterment of the current public transport system of Karachi, both federal and provincial authorities have announced five routes for metro buses in recent years. They are called Green Line, Blue Line, Red Line, Yellow Line, and Orange Line.

This massive-scale metro bus project based on five routes is officially called “Trans Karachi Breeze”. The total length of all these routes is going to be somewhere around 113 kilometres. The infrastructure works on Green Line and Orange Line have already begun.

Green Line Bus Rapid Transit is a federal government project. It is the largest of all the other proposed metro bus routes in Karachi. So, if you are willing to learn more about this upcoming mega transportation project, you have made it to the right post. In this blog, we are going to discuss all the latest updates on Green Line BRT, Karachi.

Now, without further ado, let’s get started!

Total Capacity and Length of Green Line BRT, Karachi

It is expected that after completion, it will facilitate over 300,000 passengers on a daily basis. Construction on the project started in January 2016 by the Karachi Infrastructural development Company (KIDC) and, nearly three years later, it is still underway.

Starting from Merewether Tower in the central part of the city, all the way up to Surjani Town in northern Karachi, the total length of Green Line BRT is 26 km. According to the proposed map, it will be connected with the other proposed routes of the Trans Karachi Breeze project at different points.

Funding of Green Line Metrobus in Karachi

Owing to the fact that it’s a mega project focusing on public transport in Karachi, Green Line BRT needs funding — a lot of it — so as to complete it before the deadline. A large part of this multi-million rupee project will be financed by the government of Pakistan.

Other public and private resources will also be used in order to fetch sufficient finances for the development of this project. However, the local authorities have also sought the support of the World Bank to initiate work on the third phase of development of the Green Line BRT Karachi.

Infrastructural Development

It is feasible for a project as big as the Karachi Metrobus, which runs dozens of kilometres across different parts of the city, to be developed in multiple phases. So, the development work for the Green Line BRTS Karachi has also been carried out in different phases ever since its launch.

Currently, the work on two phases of Green Line is in progress—still behind its desired schedule due to the unexpected delays caused by changes in the design and proposed infrastructure as per the direction of authorities. 

The project will also contain the third phase that will extend the project from Taj Medical Complex further to the Municipal Park. Work is successfully underway on the infrastructure of Green Line Bus and a 17.8 kilometres long corridor is under construction. 

The route of Karachi Metrobus, which is projected to provide state-of-the-art public transport in Karachi, will comprise many flyovers at multiple intersections and almost a large portion of this significant infrastructural development has already been completed. Due to these construction activities, different expressways and roads get clogged on a regular basis.

Even alternate routes don’t help with avoiding traffic congestion. Such a traffic situation for a city like Karachi, which is filled with squatter settlements and overpopulated areas, is not uncommon, especially when the work on a mega-scale transportation project is in progress. 

Once fully functional, Green Line, Karachi, is expected to reduce the amount of vehicular traffic from the roads of the city, especially during peak hours. However, the slow pace of development work on Green Line Metrobus in Karachi is testing the patience of the people in the city for the last few years.

Projected Route of the Green Line

Running miles from the beginning to the ending point, the corridor for Green Line BRT Karachi will start from Shahrah-e-Usman Road in Surjani Town. It will then run along Shershah Suri Road where multiple flyovers have been built to keep all kinds of traffic interruptions away from the route of Karachi’s Green Line BRTS.

Moving further southwards, this corridor will go through the route of Nawab Ali Siddiqui Road, Business Recorder Road, Gurumandir, Numaish Chowrangi, and all the way to the Municipal Park on M.A. Jinnah Road. The entire route of Green Line BRT, Karachi, has been planned with dozens of stations to facilitate its passengers.

Latest Updates on Green Line BRT, Karachi

The completion date of the mega project has been extended several times, but this year the authorities seem determined to launch the Green Line route of the Trans Karachi Breeze project, somewhere during the latter half of 2021.

According to Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, the Green Line bus project is expected to go operational by August. The minister added the Green Line service will begin “in between July and August,” and a prototype bus will soon be unveiled. He made this important announcement at Governor House on Feb. 14, 2021.

The project is expected to be environmental-friendly. The metro buses travelling on the Green Line route will run on biomethane, which is a type of biogas extracted from cattle manure.

These were all the latest updates on Green Line BRT, Karachi. The people of the city have high expectations from this upcoming mass transit project. Do you think the development of such large-scale projects can solve the problem of traffic congestions in a city as big as Karachi? Share your thoughts with us by dropping us an email at blog@zameen.com.

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