PM Nawaz lays foundation stone of Green Line Bus service in Karachi
The project would be completed within a year.
KARACHI (Web Desk) - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today (Friday) performed the groundbreaking ceremony of Green Line Bus Rapid Transit System in Karachi.
Addressing the ceremony, Nawaz Sharif said the government has provided Rs16 billion for the project, which will provide modern transport facilities to the commuters.
He said work on the second track of Lyari Expressway will be started next month and directions have been issued for release of two billion rupees for the project.
Nawaz Sharif said the network of motorways is being spread throughout the country. Work on Lahore-Karachi motorway will soon be started which will link Karachi to Peshawar.
He was confident that in the next few years, Pakistan will emerge as a country having the best connectivity infrastructure in the region.
The Prime Minister said indigenous resources are being used to meet the power requirements of the country. He said it is the first time that Thar coal is being exploited to produce electricity.
He said due to effective policies, the country is also making a turn-around on economic front.
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PM Nawaz arrives in Karachi
The bus service is the first ever rapid transit system that has been initiated by the federal government. The project is a significant milestone in upgrading and decongesting the overburdened transport infrastructure of Karachi.
Proposed route for Green Line starts from Municipal Park, where a rotary U-turn lane is proposed for buses. The plane alignment extends along M.A Jinnah Road towards northest up to Gurumandir, and after Gurumandir the alignment runs northward along Business Recorder Road, Nawab Siddique Ali Khan Road, Shahrah-e-Shershah Suri and Shahrah-e-Usman passing by some of the major landmarks such as Numaish, Board Office and Nagan Chowrangi.
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This project will construct a busway (dedicated for BRT vehicles) in the median of the roads along the corridor with stations in the center of the median in both at grade and elevated sections which all provide high speed (25 Km/h) and high capacity (29,400 passengers per hour per direction) service.
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The design capacity of the proposed BRT system with passing lanes provision will increase based on the number of direct / express services run between stations in the future, as required.
A fully autonomous company, Karachi Infrastructure Development Company Limited (KIDCL) has been incorporated under a Board of Directors to take all decisions independently for planning and implementation of the Project.
The project will benefit nearly 300,000 passengers per day.
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The entire funding for the project has been provided by the Federal Government. It will be completed in about one year time.
Karachi city is passing through an uncontrolled phase of rapid urbanization and motorization. The mitigation of transportation externalities requires a shift towards sustainable transportation system.
The city‘s present public transport system constitutes a small percentage of total vehicle fleet (4.5%) and serves about 42% of passenger demand yet not dedicated lanes or any other feasible traffic management solution has been provided as compared to private vehicles, which are roughly 36% of the total vehicular traffic but carry only 21% of passengers.
The Para-transit mode constitutes 10% of the vehicle fleet and carries 8% of passengers while contract carriages constitute 2% of the vehicle fleet but carry 10% of total passengers (JICA Person Trip Study, 2005).
The main objectives of Green Line project is to provide reliable, safe, affordable, high quality bus service and improve the quality of life of commuters in Karachi. It will provide infrastructure that allows buses to ply in an efficient manner with exclusive right-of-way for a significant portion of their route length.
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