Daily Times

KARACHI: Red Line Bus Rapid Transit system funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB) will be put before Central Development Working Party (CDWP) sometime next week, revealed officials of Sindh Mass Transit Authority (SMTA).

In this connection, SMTA registered Transit Karachi Company (TKC) in Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan under Section 42, of Companies’ Ordinance 1984. This step was taken to initiate Red Line Bus Rapid Transit system as ADB had put a condition on provision of funds which would cover 85 percent of the total project cost. The amount of the funds is believed to be Rs 67 billion (bn), according to officials.

As per details, two wings of ADB, Asian Development Infrastructure Institute and Green Finance Corporation will collectively support funds. Around $11 million is aid while $220 million is soft loan repayable in 40 years, according to sources.

The approval request of Red Line project had been submitted to Central Working Party in Islamabad for holding final negotiation with ADB for acquiring funds and later, Executive Committee of National Economic Common will be approached for final approval of Red Line project, officials said.

A Board of Directors (BoD) would be formed to appoint officials, set up an office and devise terms of reference for the newly registered company in addition to monitoring and running the company. According to sources, BoD comprising Tariq Ikram as Chairman BoD, Justice (retd) Shaiq Usmani as member and secretaries Finance and Transport and Commissioner Karachi would be nominated. The number of members on BoD will be enhance to six to include SMTA managing director, , Karachi Traffic DIG, Military Land DG and a lawyer, a technical official and a private member will also be included in BoD by the government. First meeting of BoD will be held in November 2018.

Salient features of Red Line BRT project include a 29.5 kilometer corridor, a section of 26.84 km, elevated section (0.80 km) and an underground section (1.86 km). The RLBRT would have a total of 24 stations, The fleet will also run on six connecting feeder routes with New Town to Gulistan-e-Jauher, Old Sabzi Mandi to Gul Bahar, Aisha Manzil to Civic Centre, Sohra Goth to Samama, Kiran Hospital to Safora Chowrangi via Race Course and connecting Model Colony to proceed on main road.

Two bus depots are designated, one each at Malir Halt and Mosammiat Gulistan-e-Jauher.

“Karachi Breeze” aims to solve these problems via six BRT corridors which include Green Line, Red Line, Yellow Line, Aqua Line, Purple Line and Orange Line as per the Mass Transit Master Plan.

Red Line routes includes M A Jinnah Road, Mazar-e-Quaid Mausoleum, occupying median of New M A Jinnah Road and contines to its junction with University Road at Jail Chowrangi and then on to Safoora Chowrangi, then along Malir Cantonment Link Road to police check post-6 and then south along M A Jinnah Avenue to its terminus at Liaquat Avenue near Airport Road, consisting of At-grade, Super elevated and below-grade segments.

RLBRT project director Abdul Rasheed Mughal said that all relevant documents and sector guidelines pertaining to environment, public transit design and construction, systems and traffic safety and public health had been complied with. He said that detailed studies had already been completed. “The Red Line is designed with help of foreign transport experts in order to avoid disturbing current plying of traffic on routes falling on Red Line route,” he maintained. “Private public transport owners currently running vehicles on Red Line scheduled route will be paid for their vehicles and will be provided alternate means of earnings,” he added. “On nearly 21 points on route, private vehicles including cars, rikhshaws and two wheelers would be given facility of elevated bridges for U-turns,” he said.

Earlier Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provided assistance to Sindh government in jointly developing a detailed and comprehensive Karachi Transportation Improvement Project, comprising a Transport Master Plan and Feasibility Study for Green and Red BRT lines.

Published in Daily Times, November 10^th 2018.