A cargo ship carrying 40 Green Line Project Buses has reached Karachi Port, it was reported on Sunday.
The cargo ship Feng Shen, loaded with 40 buses, entered Pakistan’s territorial waters early today. Another consignment of 40 buses will arrive in Pakistan from China in the first week of October.
Karachi will have 40 Green Line buses within a month: governor
Earlier, Federal Minister for Planning and Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar had said that the Green Line Bus service would become operational in November this year.
The Green Line Bus service is part of a multi-billion-rupee package dubbed the 'Karachi Transformation Plan', which is aimed at addressing chronic issues such as public transport, water and sewage alongside solid waste management.
The projects hold significance for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the ruling party, that has been at loggerheads with the Sindh government over various issues.
Umar earlier said that the Green Line was the first state-of-the-art project, which was being introduced in the city with a 20.5-kilometer-long corridor. He said that the construction of 22 bus stations had been completed while a command and control centre was being established.
Green Line BRT project
The 18-meter-long buses have 40 seats and can accommodate 140 people at a time. The imported vehicles are of Euro 3 standards which means that the carbon monoxide emissions from the buses should be lower.
The hybrid vehicles will be run on batteries and diesel. They have a special ramp for people with disabilities and the seats installed in them have dual space.
The city's Green Line BRT project is a 24-km long route which consists of 25 stations.
Green line transport system to be operational in November: Asad Umar
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 underground bus terminal with a parking facility and the commercial mezzanine floor was also being constructed at Numaish. Construction work on Phase-I commenced in 2016.