ISLAMABAD: The French government is providing a soft loan of Rs12.3 billion (65 million euros) for the bus rapid transit (BRT) Red Line project in Karachi.

To facilitate the credit, Ambassador of France in Pakistan Marc Barety and country director of the French Agency for Development (AFD) signed the credit financing agreement with Secretary for Economic Affairs Division Noor Ahmed in Islamabad to co-finance with the Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Green Climate Fund.

The Red Line is proposed to connect with the Green Line, currently under construction, at the Numaish station for a seamless and connected operation. The Red Line services will then continue on the shared common corridor from the Numaish station till Merewether Tower.

Project is supposed to connect to Green Line service

The soft loan of Rs12.3bn for the project shows that the substantial financial effort made by the development agencies is aimed for a higher impact on people’s livelihoods. It will be one of the very first collaborative operations for AIIB and GCF in Pakistan on urban development, a French embassy press release states.

The project includes the construction of 26.6km BRT corridor in Karachi encompassing both the Red Line corridor (24.2km) and the common corridor segment (2.4km) as well as feeder and direct services routes to the nearby communities.

Beyond the 26.6km corridor infrastructure, the project is innovative in many ways, and on climate change mitigation the choice is made for the bio-methane hybrid bus technology, powered by a dedicated waste methanisation plant. This technology combined with the massive transport supply will further reduce CO2 emissions from the public transport system.

The holistic street approach for this urban development project is to include organisation and facilities for all the public space along the BRT corridor, whereas its gender and social inclusion dimensions are through the adoption of good practices in accessibility and gender mainstreaming.

In addition, the project includes a support component for the transition of the existing bus sector with the integration of informal operators into the new system, which is a prerequisite for their proper and full commissioning.

The project-related infrastructure includes 24 BRT stations and dedicated lanes in the median, improved mixed traffic lanes, bicycle lanes, parking, sidewalks, green areas, streetlights and proper drainage to climate-proof the corridor and other BRT-related infrastructure, including two depots, one staging facility, offices for Sindh TMTA and TransKarachi, a control centre and park-and-ride facilities.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2021