Pakistan: Karachi’s second mass transit service named after Edhi to be launched on Sept. 10
Government has imported 20 buses from China for the Edhi BRTS project
Karachi: The Sindh government will honour Abdul Sattar Edhi by naming the second Bus Rapid Transit Service (BRTS) in Karachi after the late philanthropist who founded the Edhi Foundation in Pakistan.
Originally it was known Orange Line section of BRTS but later the government decided to rename it to recognise Edhi’s decades-long philanthropic activities in Karachi and other parts of the country. Renaming was also necessary so that people shouldn’t confuse it with the Orange Line metro train service in Lahore.
The Edhi Line section of BRTS, to be launched on September 10, is the second modern mass transit service in Karachi. In December, the then prime minister, Imran Khan, inaugurated the Green Line BRTS.
The federal government funded the construction of the Green Line corridor and procurement of the buses for the project.
Sindh Information and Transport Minister, Sharjeel Inam Memon, said the Edhi Line section of the BRTS had been totally funded by the provincial government as a gift for the people of Karachi.
The trial run on the Edhi Line started on September 2. The government in May imported 20 buses from China for the Edhi BRTS project.
The Edhi Line corridor is 3.88km long for connectivity from the Orangi Town area in the suburbs of the city to Board Office Intersection in Nazimabad. It has five passenger stations. Its depot has the capacity to park 30 buses. The Edhi Line service is expected to cater for 50,000 passengers per day.
At the Board Office intersection, it will merge with the Green Line bus service already operational in the city. After Edhi Line, the government has already started work on the Red Line section of BRTS in Karachi which is going to be the first mass transit service in the country fuelled by renewable biofuel.
The Sindh Transport Minister said the completion of the Edhi Line BRTS project reflected the complete resolve of the provincial government to modernise public transportation services in Karachi.
He said that in the next phase modern mass transit services would be introduced in other major cities of the province.