Trial run of Chinese diesel-electric hybrid buses begins in Karachi

Karachi: The trial operation of the newly imported diesel-electric hybrid buses from China has begun. When operational, these will provide daily commute service in Karachi.

The Sindh government has imported 240 modern, large buses for providing inter-city service in Karachi and Larkana. The provincial Transport Department has devised the Sindh People’s Intra-District Bus Service for running these buses on seven routes in Karachi and one route in Larkana.

The Sindh Transport Department has contracted the services of the National Radio & Telecommunication Corporation, a federal entity, to run these buses for 12 years.

The service will operate alongside the Bus Rapid Transit Service (BRTS) being built for launching a proper mass transit facility in the city.

The trial bus service has been launched on one of the designated routes of the new buses in Karachi from Model Colony to Hotel Metropole via Shara-e- Faisal.

Sindh Information and Transport Minister, Sharjeel Inam Memon, accompanied by Sindh Labour and Human Resources Minister, Saeed Ghani, and aide to Sindh Chief Minister, Waqar Mehdi, took part in the trial run of the bus service.

Memon informed journalists that buses had also arrived from China for the Orange Line section of the BRTS in Karachi.

He said the Orange Line BRTS named after the late philanthropist, Abdul Sattar Edhi, would soon become operational.

He said that after a successful trial run of the new buses, the intra-city bus service in Karachi and Larkana would formally be launched in the current month.

Memon conceded the considerable delays in launching a new bus service in Karachi but said the Sindh government stood fully committed to providing modern public transport facilities in the provincial capital.

He said the Sindh government of the Pakistan People’s Party had been doing its best to launch a proper mass transit system in Karachi.