Bilawal opens bus service

KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday inaugurated the Sindh Intra-District People’s Bus Service in the city.

He was accompanied on the occasion by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Information and Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, Labour Minister Saeed Ghani, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation Administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab and others.

After the inauguration by Bilawal, 30 air-conditioned diesel-electric hybrid buses have started plying on the route No 1 of the bus service in Karachi.The route No 1 connects Model Colony with Tower via Sharea Faisal and II Chundrigar Road.

Later, a total of 240 brand new buses imported from China would operate on the other six routes of the bus service in Karachi.

Under the scheme, buses would also operate on a single route in Larkana city. This is the first time the Sindh government of the PPP has launched a public bus service for the daily commuting needs of the people of Karachi.

After launching the service, Bilawal travelled in a bus along with the Sindh CM and members of the provincial government. He reviewed the facilities available to the passengers of the new bus service.

Talking to media persons, the Sindh transport minister greeted the people of Karachi on the launch of the new intra-district bus service in the city.He said the mass transportation system of the city had been getting improved on a gradual basis.

He claimed that buses on the rest of the six routes of Karachi would start plying in the next 10 days. He said that the routes of new buses had been duly inspected for verifying their suitability for the new mass transit service in the city.

Memon informed media persons that the minimum and maximum fares of the new bus service were Rs25 and Rs50 respectively, which was quite reasonable for a modern, comfortable and air-conditioned bus service.

He said that very soon buses would start operating on the Orange Line section of the BRT service from Orangi Town to Jinnah University for Women in Nazimabad.He remarked that the Sindh government had the utmost resolve to develop Karachi in order to extend maximum comfort to its residents.

He said the people of Karachi should fully own the new buses brought into the city as they should protect them like their own assets.Memon said the government would take stern action if anyone tried to harm the new buses. He said the government would shut down the service of old buses on the routes of the city where new buses would start their operations. He told media persons that talks were under way with the prospective investors from China and Turkey to establish assembling units in the province for local manufacturing of buses.