Karachi's Green Line Bus Rapid Transit Service (BRTS) was fully made operational on Monday after almost six years since its groundbreaking.

This was announced by Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Monday in a tweet.

"Exactly as announced a month ago when PM Imran Khan inaugurated the greenline operation and its trial operations started, the full commercial operations of greenline have started."

"22 stations, 80 buses, 7 am to 10 pm, 13 hours daily," he tweeted.

On December 25, all 80 buses of its fleet had started its operation between Surjani Town and Numaish Chowrangi.

Now, the Green Line bus service has been made fully operational and its duration will be from 7am to 10 pm.

The bus service will start from KESC Powerhouse Chowrangi in Surjani Town and terminate at Municipal Park after passing through Nagan Chowrangi, North Nazimabad, Nazimabad and Gurumandir, with 25 stations along its route.

The fare of one trip will range between Rs15 and Rs55.

The Green Line BRT is supposed to facilitate the travel of approximately 300,000 passengers daily.

With over 23-kilometer dedicated tracks, the bus service project offers special services for the disabled. The hybrid vehicles will be run on batteries and diesel.

On December 10, Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the project in Karachi, thanking Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited (SIDCL) and parliamentarians from Karachi for pursuing the project.

He termed Karachi as Pakistan's engine of growth, saying that if Karachi prospers, then Pakistan will prosper.

The premier noted that the city could not be transformed into a modern city until the removal of administrative flaws. "No modern city can function without modern transport," he said.

This report was first published in Business Recorder on Jan 10, 2022.