CM Murad Ali Shah orders transport department to complete Orange Line’s infrastructure

Sindh’s chief minister has directed the transport department to complete the infrastructure of Orange Line, and to use the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) loan for Red Line and finalise the design of Yellow Line so that work on them can be started in the larger interest of Karachi.

CM Syed Murad Ali Shah chaired a meeting of the Sindh Transport Department on Tuesday to review the progress of the bus rapid transit system (BRTS) in the city. The meeting was attended by Sindh Transport Minister Awais Qadir Shah, Planning & Development Chairman Mohammad Waseem, Karachi Administrator Iftikhar Shallwani, Karachi Commissioner Sohail Rajput, the transport secretary and the project consultants.

The chief executive said the BRTS projects planned by his provincial government have started maturing, so the transport department should set a timeline for their groundbreaking.

Orange Line

Renamed after philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, the Orange Line section of the BRTS is a 3.88-kilometre project that has four bus stations. One bus terminal has been launched by the provincial government for Rs2.36 billion from its resources.

Its route starts from the office of the Orangi Town municipal administration to the Jinnah University for Women in Nazimabad. The National Engineering Services Pakistan is the design and supervision consultant of the project.

Transport Minister Shah said the infrastructure of Orange Line had been almost completed but was delayed because of Green Line since the two projects were to be integrated. The CM ordered him to complete the remaining work and report to him.

Red Line

P&D Chairman Waseem said Red line has three packages: the first is engineering, procurement & construction management and operation design, and the second is project management, coordination & capacity building, under which capacity building of the Sindh Mass Transit Authority and the Trans-Karachi BRT Company is in progress.

He said that the third package is operation, design & business management, under which the consultant developing operational plans, financial model, transport model and bus industry restructuring will be carried out.

The transport minister said that all the consultants of the project will be supporting the provincial government in undertaking procurement to select contractors for civil works and suppliers for all the project equipment such as BRT vehicles, intelligent transport systems and fare systems.

Replying to a question by the CM, he said the consultants responsible for detail engineering design have almost finalised the design and draft version of their drawing, and have submitted it for review and comments of the project director.

Waseem said the project consultant selection committee has shortlisted the pre-qualified consultants and is now waiting for the ADB to issue a no-objection certificate. The Red Line section’s cost is around Rs74.68 billion.

Yellow Line

On the CM’s request, the World Bank agreed to undertake the Yellow Line section, with the objective to improve urban mobility, accessibility and road safety in Karachi through the construction of the Yellow Line BRT Corridor, including the 22km corridor, drainage, lighting, busways, stations, terminals and depot.

Waseem said the concept paper of the project has been cleared by the Provincial Development Working Party and has been sent to the Planning, Development & Reforms Commission for consideration and approval in the Central Development Working Party.

The CM was informed that the PC-1 of the project was prepared based on the preliminary design, for which Rs61 billion has been approved by the Executive Committee of National

Economic Council.

The transport minister said Yellow Line’s route will start from Dawood Chowrangi and move on to Korangi via Korangi 8000 Road and Korangi Road via Sharea Faisal and Shahrah-e-Quaideen and will be integrated at the Numaish BRT station.

He said the project will have eight underpasses and two elevated U-turns, 268 diesel hybrid technology buses, and 28 stations, including 22 at grade and six underground stations. The CM directed him to start the process to procure consultancy services for the preparation of detailed design. The transport minister said that hiring for key positions such as environment, communications, gender, social, procurement and financial management specialists is under way.

The chief executive directed the transport department to get the consultant on board as soon as possible. “I have to start these two projects — Yellow Line and Red Line — so that they can be completed within two years.”