Double-decker buses to hit Karachi roads from tomorrow: Sharjeel

Double-decker buses will begin operating on Karachi’s roads from Wednesday, said Sindh Minister for Information, Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon, while inaugurating the integration of the Orange Line and Green Line BRT.

“Today, we have inaugurated the project to integrate the Orange Line and Green Line BRT. Starting tomorrow, double-decker buses will begin operating on Karachi’s roads, followed by the launch of new routes for Electric Vehicle (EV) buses. Furthermore, the Peoples Bus Service is set to begin operations in Khairpur, Shikarpur, and Tando Allah Yar. All these projects are aimed at providing better facilities to the public,” Sharjeel said addressing media in Karachi on Tuesday. He also said tons of buses for Sindh are in the pipeline.

READ MORE: Five double-decker buses all set to hit Karachi roads by January, say officials

The minister said complaints were received that people had to take a bus or rickshaw when Orange Line bus route ends, consequently paying extra fare and bear the hassle. “Hence, the provincial government has decided to integrate the Orange Line and Green Line, which means that one could travel on both these buses on the same card,” he added.

He stated: “The buses are equipped with security cameras and other modern amenities. Additionally, dedicated buses for women will also be operated on both the Green Line and Orange Line routes.”

The transport minister said the government would try to increase the number of passengers daily travelling on BRT buses to 100,000 from 75,000.

“Though we faced major issues in Red Line BRT project but work has been started on this project now,” he said.

Sharjeel said double-decker buses will be brought into other cities of the province as well. He said the concept behind double-decker buses is that it will reduce traffic by carrying more people.

He also said that initially the double-decker buses will commute on Malir-Shahra e Faisal road.

After a gap of six to seven decades, the double-decker buses will run on roads in the fast growing populous city also known as the Pakistan’s economic hub and the city of two seaports, Business Recorder reported.

The Sindh government has imported as many as 39 buses, including five double-decker and 34 EV buses, at a cost of Rs3 billion from China.

The vehicles are in the process of getting clearance from the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) these days, it was learnt.

“We have planned to run the double-decker buses on Shahrah-e-Faisal in Karachi via Model Colony to/from Tower route as soon as the buses get clearance from the port,” Sindh Mass Transit Authority (SMTA) Managing Director Kanwal Nizam Bhutto had said.