Good news for Karachi: Sindh govt mulls launching ‘environment friendly’ electric bus service

Karachi: The Sindh government Sunday announced that it will launch a new bus service in the city comprising completely environment-friendly electric public vehicles.

The electric buses are designed with Japanese technology that are charged in 20 minutes to run for 240 kilometers.

A charging station for electric bus is set at UP Depot.

The bus comprises of 30 passenger seats. Approximately 90 passengers can accommodate at a time in the bus.

Along with air conditioning, mobile charging points and fire saving cylinders are also installed in the bus.

10 buses are being launched for the initial phase. After the success of first phase, 40 more buses will be moving on the roads of Karachi. 

Sindh Information and Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon yesterday took to his twitter to share details of the new initiative.

“Transport department government of Sindh is going to start new bus service in Karachi. These are Pakistan’s first electrical vehicles which are completely environment friendly. From tomorrow we are going to start the test drive in the city,” the tweet read.

However, the sustainability of electric buses is still in doubt as last year the same initiative couldn’t last long.

“The Sindh government took a similar initiative in March 2021 and launched the country’s first electric bus project in Karachi promising that the number of these environment-friendly buses would rise to 100 by the end of the year,” a source said privy to the details.

“The planned route of the electric bus was to run from Tower to Sohrab Goth and the fixed fare for one stop was as low as Rs10. However, it did not turn out sustainable and the only launched route came to a halt,” the source added.

The routes for the new project will be finalized after the test run for the electric buses is complete.