Green Line BRT makes ‘soft’ start
PHOTO: APP
Trial run and limited scale services of Green Lline bus will be avialable at 11 of the total 21 stops from today. Buses will only run from 8am to 12 pm. The number of buses has also been limited to 25.
According to the organisers, Green Line bus project will be fully operational from January 10.
Federal Minister Asad Omar had announced that the commercial operation of the Green Line bus project would start from December 25.
However, according to Sindh Infrastructure Development Company, the bus service will run on a limited scale for four hours on a trial basis, while the number of functional stations has also been halved.
The measure has been taken to assess the capacity of the project infrastructure and systems.
The foundation stone of the project was laid by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on February 27, 2016 at an estimated cost of Rs16 billion. After many years of delays and amendments, cost of the project has exceeded Rs35 billion. The project has not yet been completed.
The track of the project was limited to Naumaish Chowrangi instead of Jama Cloth Market.
A six-month target has been set for the construction of the remaining track.
On the other hand, at the launch of Green Line bus service, citizens expressed hope that the project would help in alleviating problems of commuters in Karachi.
Citizens also expressed concern over service not being fully operational from December 25. Citizens say that despite giving different dates by the federal government, the project could not be fully operational. The wait for the citizens of Karachi is getting longer and longer.
Children will be able to travel without ticket in the Green Line bus but a unique condition has been imposed for this too.
Children will be exempted from ticket based on their height and not their age. A scale for measuring height of children has been affixed on walls of ticket houses on upper corridors leading to stations. Children up to three feet tall will be exempt from the ticket.
There are two ways to get a Green Line ticket. Citizens will be able to get a printout of the ticket on paper with cash payment on which QR code will be printed which will give access to the stations. The ticket will be usable only one time for specific stations or distances.
In addition to this, the second method will be to get a ticket which can be used multiple time through rechargeable plastic cards. The cost of making a card for the first time will be Rs100 and the balance will be loaded in it.
The ticket for the entire track of Green Line bus service was fixed at Rs55. The minimum charges will be Rs15.
Initially Rs15 will be charged for traveling by card and after that Rs5 will be deducted from the balance of the card for every 2kms covered.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 25th, 2021.