Karachi gets first electric buses

Test drive begins, e-bus can travel 240km on a single charge

Karachi: Sindh government has introduced environment-friendly electric buses and the test run from Sindh Archive Complex to Sea View in Clifton has already been started.

Sindh Minister for Information Sharjeel Memon said that the government had initially imported 50 electric buses of 20-meter in length which were procured at twice the cost of diesel-hybrid buses. “These are the future buses as the world has been converting to electric-run transportation from diesel. These buses are also environment-friendly and the fare will be less than the fare of red diesel-hybrid buses,” he remarked.

The provincial minister said that the government was negotiating with Chinese, European and local companies to establish a manufacturing plant of electric buses in the province so that the cost of buses could be reduced.

He said the charging facility would be provided while solar charging arrangements will also be made for the buses. After the trial run, the routes of these buses would be announced in the next ten days after the completion of a survey to assess the need, he added. The white and black colour combination of the electric buses has two doors – one for women and the other for men. These buses have comfortable seats and are equipped with fire extinguishing cylinders. The bus has a seating capacity of 32 people but 30 to 40 people can also travel by standing. The buses can cover a distance of 240 kilometres on a single charge.

Karachi’s Administrator Murtaza Wahab said that the roads which were destroyed by torrential rains in the city were being reconstructed and the task would be completed by the end of December. He said the buses would run on roads which had already been repaired or re-constructed as all the departments of the government were facilitating each other in the larger interest of the people.

Besides, the Sindh government has made six routes of red buses operational out of a total of seven routes so far. Altaf Sarayo, Managing Director of the Sindh Mass Transit Authority (SMTA) said, “We have been operating six routes in the city and planning to add three to the existing routes so that more and more people can benefit from the public transport.”

He said that 115 buses were plying on six routes and four more routes would be introduced soon because of the demand from the people of the city. “We have a total of 234 diesel-hybrid buses, of them, 115 are plying on different routes and the remaining will be used for new or additional routes,” he added.

The additional routes are from Numaish Chowrangi to Sea View via M.A Jinnah Road, Civil Hospital, Lighthouse, Bolton Market, Metropole, three-sword, two-sword, Bilawal Chowrangi, Dua Chowrangi, Dolmen Mall.

The second additional route is from Gulshan-e-Hadeed to Malir Halt via Allahwala Chowk in Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Steel Town mor, Manzil pump, Quaidabad and Malir 15.

The third addition will be from Ziauddin Hospital in Shireen Jinnah Colony to Meera Naka in Lyari via Boat Basin, Maikolachi road and Mauripur.

An effective public transport system was in place in Karachi before this century as the circular railway was shut down on December 15, 1999, while the intra-city bus operation under the aegis of Karachi Transport Corporation was closed down on March 20, 1997. The government-run inter-city bus operation under the umbrella of Sindh Regional Transport Corporation (SRTC) was also closed down on December 6, 1999.

After the collapse of the public transport system in the public and private sectors in the 2000s, Qingqi rickshaws filled the gap and caused an increase in the number of road accidents. Since the court banned this mode of transport in Karachi, the people relied on taxis and rickshaws in absence of an adequate number of public buses.