• Days-long outage at Mehran Depot leaves over 30 e-buses inoperative, disrupting travel for thousands of commuters
• Official says bus service expected to resume once power supply is normalised
• KE claims electricity at depot restored

KARACHI: The ongoing power crisis in the metropolis has now hit the city’s public transport system, as more than two dozen electric buses operating on various routes across the megacity were forced to remain off the roads after a days-long suspension of power supply at their charging stations left them unable to recharge, officials and sources said.

They said that the Mehran Depot charging stations of the electric buses in Model Colony were without power supply for three days, and repeated complaints failed to convince the authorities at the power utility to take action and address the problem or restore the power supply.

“Finally, the National Radio & Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC), which runs the operation of the Sindh government’s public transport system, announced late on Sunday, informing its staff and through other communication channels, that three routes of electric buses consisting of more than 30 buses would remain suspended from Monday,” said an official.

“These routes include EV-1, EV-3 and the women-only Pink Bus route R-1. Two charging stations at Mehran Depot were unable to charge the electric buses after a three-day power suspension left them without electricity”, he added.

The situation, he said, started deteriorating on Saturday evening, but due to a low number of passengers on the roads and a lower-than-usual demand for buses because of Eid holidays, the authorities managed to keep the operation uninterrupted and “somehow” managed to keep the buses running.

“But by Sunday evening, the situation worsened, and we were left with no option but to announce the suspension of operations on three routes,” he added.

The official said that based on their estimates, the suspension of these three routes has affected the daily commute of around 12,000 passengers.

“The disruption has created significant difficulties for thousands of people who rely on the electric bus service for affordable and reliable transportation to their workplaces and other destinations. The suspension has particularly affected regular passengers who depend on these routes as part of their daily routine”, he added.

The official said that on Monday afternoon, a team of K-Electric arrived to fix the problem, reviving hopes that the power supply would be restored within a few hours.

“If the power supply is restored, we hope to normalise the operation on Tuesday [today],” he added.

The EV-1 route starts at Tank Chowk (Jinnah Avenue), passes through Sharea Faisal, FTC, Korangi Road, Khayaban-i-Ittehad, and terminates at Clock Tower, Seaview, while EV-3 connects Bahria Town to Malir Halt via the M-9 Toll Plaza, Baqai University and Jinnah Avenue. The women-only R-1 Pink Bus service is a 28-kilometre route that operates between Model Colony and Dockyard.

The disruption to the electric bus service also highlighted the severity of the power crisis affecting residents in and around Model Colony.

People living in neighbourhoods adjacent to Mehran Depot complained that they had been without electricity for nearly three days, forcing families to endure extreme discomfort amid hot and humid weather.

Residents said repeated complaints to the power utility had yielded little response, leaving them to rely on costly alternatives such as generators and battery backups.

Many complained that routine household activities, including access to water and the operation of essential appliances, had been severely affected by the prolonged outage.

Power supply restored: KE

A spokesperson for the KE said that power supply to Peoples Bus Service Depot had been restore. “A temporary disruption took place due to excessive load at the consumer’s end and it is incorrect to equate localised faults to loadshedding,” he added.

The spokesperson stated that relevant institution had already been notified regarding the excessive load last month. “The system will also be upgraded once a formal load extension request and payment are received from the relevant institution.”

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2026