After almost six years since its groundbreaking, Karachi’s Green Line Bus Rapid Transit service has started operations for the public today (Saturday). More than 80 buses in its fleet will shuttle between Surjani Town and Numaish Chowrangi.

Initially, the vehicles will stay on the roads for four hours from 8am to noon. Out of 80 buses, 25 will be used first and the fare of one trip will range between Rs15 and Rs55.

The Green Line route is Surjani, New Karachi, KDA Chowrangi, Sakhi Hasan, North Nazimabad and Nazimabad and then Numaish. For now, however, limited stations have been opened for the public as work on some of the stops and tracks is still underway.

The service will begin its full-fledged operations from January 10.

The 18-meter-long buses have 40 seats and can accommodate 140 people at a time. The bus has an adjustable ramp for wheelchair users. CCTV cameras have been installed for surveillance and monitoring. Wi-Fi and charging ports are also available on the bus.

The facilities in the Greenline buses include hand railings and air conditioners in the articulated compartments and automatic spray machines. The bus has 13 emergency exits.

The imported vehicles are of Euro 3 standards which means that the carbon monoxide emissions from the buses are reduced. The hybrid vehicles will be run on batteries and diesel. They have a special ramp for people with disabilities and the seats installed in them have dual space.

A timeline of delays

The Green Line Bus Rapid Transport System was inaugurated by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2017. Since then, the project’s completion deadline has been extended so many times that the citizens would now believe only when they see the first bus plying on the track.

Here’s a timeline of these extensions:

• The project was initially supposed to be completed in April 2017. The date was first revised to April 2018 due to design changes.
• But then the PTI government came into power. It came up with two new deadlines: June 2019 and then December 2019.
• A litany of delays extended the completion date to February and then March 2021. Sindh Governor Imran Ismail announced July 2021 as the date when the citizens will get to travel in Green Line.
• This deadline was extended again to September 2021.
• And in August, Asad Umar gave a new deadline of October.
• Last month, the federal IT minister Amin ul Haq announced that the project will be inaugurated in November.
• On December 10, Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the service.