Bus Rapid Transit: Yellow Line project still confined to papers

The government had hoped it will kick off by January this year

KARACHI:

The Yellow Line mass transit project, which the government was hopeful would kick off by January this year and promised to get its operation started by the end of 2016, is still confined to papers.

This project is part of the six Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridors that were proposed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) to improve the traffic situation in Karachi. The Karachi Mass Transit Cell (KMTC) had invited international tenders for its Yellow Line. The cell has received around 21 bids from local and foreign firms.

The Sindh government is again hopeful that this Yellow Line will finally witness some work on ground by the end of this year. The Chinese company, China Urban Elected Company (CUEC), has finally been given the tender but the concessional agreement, which was to be signed by the mid of this month, couldn't as yet.



Mass Transit director-general Muhammad Athar told The Express Tribune about the reason of the delay. According to him, while meetings have been taking place with the company, the agreement couldn't take place 'maybe because of the budget'. He said that the concessional agreement will be signed in the coming week.

Read: Will Karachi finally have a mass transit system?

"The financial close will take place within four months of signing the concessional agreement," he said. "The work will commence within 90 days of the financial close." According to him, the project will take 18 months to finish.

The structure of yellow line

Yellow Lines is a bus lane for the BRT system about 26 kilometres long starting from Dawood Chowrangi in Landhi and stretching till Regal Chowk, Saddar, via Korangi Road, FTC, Sharae Quaideen, Numaish and People's Secretariat Chowrangi.

Sixteen kilometres of the tracks will be dedicated entirely to the BRT and no traffic will be allowed to pass. Four kilometres will be elevated tracks and another six kilometres will be mixed with the traffic after Kala Pul on Sharae Faisal.

According to KMTC director-general Fazal Karim Khatri, the mixed traffic in BRT is a common practice. "We have to do this where we don't have any other option," he said. "However, there will be priority-based signals for BRT buses for the mixed traffic sections."

Read: Bus Rapid Transit only solution to Karachi traffic woes: Penelosa

The Jam Sadiq Ali Bridge at Korangi will be widened from four lanes to eight lanes while two other flyovers will be constructed on the tracks. The Yellow Line will have 24 stations and 24 overhead bridges. The BRT is offering an average speed of 30 kilometres per hour and the project has three components, including infrastructure building, operation of buses and maintenance and fare collections.

The estimated cost of the project is around Rs14 billion and the estimated time of completion is two years. There will be around 85 buses on this line, facilitating approximately 150,000 passengers. An operator will provide and maintain the buses and will be paid some share of the revenue for every kilometre that the buses cover. Also, the government will pay a fixed amount to the fare collector.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2015.