PM Inaugurates Green Line Bus Service For Karachi

Prime Minister Imran  Khan has lamented the successive governments for ignoring transport system for Karachi.

KARACHI: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-Dec 10th, 2021) Prime Minister Imran Khan says Karachi is the engine of growth of Pakistan as prosperity of the country is linked with the development of the city.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of Greenline Rapid Bus service project in Karachi on Friday, he said first step to modernize any city is to improve its transport system but unfortunately no government paid heed to address the transport problem of the Karachi in past.

About local government elections, the Prime Minister said that Karachi is needed to be given financial autonomy through this system.

Imran Khan said that ground breaking of K-IV water project for Karachi will be performed next month and the project will be completed in next fourteen to fifteen months.

He said through K-IV project, water will be provided to Karachi from Keenjhar lake.

The Prime Minister urged Sindh government to take benefit of the health card scheme of federal government as Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are taking benefit of the scheme.

Earlier, addressing the ceremony, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said Greenline is one of the five mega projects initiated by the federal government in the city that has been completed and its commercial operation will start from 25th of this month.

The project, completed at a huge cost of 35.5 billion rupees, is a valuable gift by the federal government for the people of Sindh, particularly the residents of Karachi.

Green Line Bus Rapid Transit System project will provide modern travel facilities to one hundred and thirty five thousand passengers daily in the western and central districts of Karachi, making their access to Central business District easy and safe.

The project has been implemented by the Ministry of Planning and Development through Sindh Infrastructure Development Company on the special interest of Minster for Planning and Development Asad Umar.

The bus service will comprise 80 hybrid buses that will ply a route of 22 kilometres from Surjani to the Municipal Park near Jama Cloth market with, 23 stations located on each km.

The Green Line Bus project was announced by the PML-N's federal government in July 2014. On February 26, 2016, the foundation stone of the 17.8 km long track from Surjani to Guru Mandir was laid.

Modern state-of-the-art lifts and automatic ticketing systems would facilitate passengers on every bus station. All details about the arrival and departure of buses would be available on digital screens installed on bus stations.

Each bus would have a capacity of 200 to 250 passengers while the fare is expected to be between Rs20 and Rs50. The buses would have a complete system from USB ports to wheelchairs.

In the second phase of the project, buses would run to the Tower. Under the Green Line Bus project, a two-storey underpass is being constructed at Guru Mandir and Numaish Chowrangi, where not only buses would run on international standards, but accommodation would also be provided.

A control room with at least 900 cameras has also been set up for monitoring of the Green Line bus project and security of passengers to meet the requirements of modern times.