Development work for Green Line Bus Rapid Transit project being done on MA Jinnah Road in Karachi. Photo: File
The current under-construction portion of Green Line BRT is a 17.8 kilometres (km) long segregated bus track joining Surjani Town and Gurumandir, which is funded by the federal government through Karachi Infrastructure Development Company Limited (KIDCL), whereas, the Orange Line BRT is funded by the Sindh government, which initiates from Orangi Town's Town Municipal Administration Ground and then runs in segregated lanes all the way to Matric Board Office. The project worth Rs1.14 billion is spread over 3.9km.
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Integration of two lines
The two lines were supposed to be integrated at the Board Office, where the KIDCL has almost completed construction of what they call a 'state-of-the-art Board Office Interchange'. However, the planned interchange had no provision to integrate the Orange Line into the Green Line's segregated track that goes towards Gurumandir.
"Interchange is not part of the Green Line BRT," KIDCL Chief Engineer Nisar Sario told The Express Tribune, adding that the interchange is only going to be constructed to facilitate the regular traffic. The inclusion of the Orange Line BRT into the Green Line BRT, he said, is an afterthought, for which the authorities will have to make provision.
Meanwhile, another official of the KIDCL, requesting anonymity, said, "It has been three months [that] the Sindh government [has been] unable to decide the fate of the Orange Line BRT. We cannot hold our construction work for long because of the indecision." He added that the authorities should have coordinated earlier if they wanted physical integration of the two lines.
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Options for integration
Meanwhile, an official of the Orange Line's consultant said that earlier the Sindh government was pondering over diverting the Orange Line from Board Office. However, the decision was revoked when the government was informed that a huge number of passengers from Orangi Town and Baldia Town will not be able to transfer to the Green Line. The Sindh government then agreed to move it towards Gurumandir on the Green Line's track, only to find that there was no provision made by the KIDCL to do so.
Later, in the light of fresh surveys, it was decided that the Orange Line would go to Nagan Chowrangi because most passengers from Orangi Town and Baldia Town travel to Nagan Chowrangi. The surveys suggested that the work locations of the residents of these areas are SITE and Nipa not Saddar.
There are five existing bus routes that connect Baldia Town and Nipa, which are always full of passengers, while three bus routes join Orangi and Nipa. "No existing bus route goes from Baldia towards Saddar," the official said, adding that the number of Orangi and Baldia passengers going towards Saddar is so insignificant that the transfer of passengers from Orange Line to Green Line at Board Office will not be a hurdle.
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If the Orange Line goes to Nagan Chowrangi, it will not be using the Board Office Interchange. Instead it will use the central median under construction for the Green Line BRT. The length of strip on which the Orange Line buses will travel till the central median in mixed traffic is not significant and will not affect the 'rapidity' element in the project, said the official.
The newly proposed route of Orange Line has again some issues to be resolved as KIDCL has not kept any provision for the Orange Line to make a U-turn at Nagan Chowrangi. "It is even possible that the Orange Line moves from Nagan to Nipa with regular traffic without any segregated route," the official said, adding that even for that, the KIDCL has to provide provision for the exit of BRT Orange Line from its segregated track.
No official of the Sindh government was available for comment despite repeated attempts.
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