Few things test Karachi commuters’ patience like its roads and public transport.
asserted
things → test → roads
For nearly five years, construction of the Red Line has added another obstacle to daily journeys, with traffic diversions, dust and disrupted businesses along the corridor.
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construction → add → corridor
We wanted to understand why the project was taking so long.
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project → want → ?
So we travelled the route, documented the work on the ground and spoke to the people living and working beside it.
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we → travel → it
The idea for the Red Line was born in the early 2010s when it was clear Karachi could not survive its own traffic.
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Karachi → bear → traffic
The Japan International Cooperation Agency, known globally as the sensei of city surveys, was asked to help.
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Agency → know → surveys
It counted the cars and motorcycles and studied the madness before coming up with a simple plan: Make six Bus Rapid Transit corridors.
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It → count → corridors
BRT, as it is called, is a short form for giving buses their own lane in the middle of the road where no other vehicles can enter.
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vehicles → call → road
This allows the bus to zoom people up and down a road without being hemmed in by pesky lane-violators.
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bus → allow → violators
One of the six corridors, the Red Line, ran from Numaish near Quaid-e-Azam’s Mazar to Malir Halt, a little further after the Karachi airport.
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One → run → airport
This 26.6km strip is Karachi’s busiest and includes University Road.
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strip → include → Road
The planners gauged that it would need over 260 electric buses for it.
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it → gauge → it
“We found that more than 60 per cent of regular commuters cross Numaish every day,” said Zubair Channa, CEO of TransKarachi, a public sector company in charge of the project.
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Channa → find → project
Back in 2011, that looked like up to 166,000 vehicles a day at the busiest intersections surveyed on the corridor.
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that → look → corridor
The Red Line work began in March 2022 and is less than half done more than four years later.
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work → begin → March
Documents of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a major financier, note April 30, 2027, as the loan closing date.
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Documents → note → date
According to the Asian Development Bank’s project data sheet, the four financiers had disbursed approximately $128.93 million by August 20, 2026.
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financiers → accord → August
ADB had disbursed $87.63m of its $235m loan, while the French Development Agency and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank had disbursed $21.38m and $19.92m, respectively, out of $71.8m each.
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Agency → disburse → m
No disbursements had been recorded against the Green Climate Fund’s combined $49m grant and loan commitments.
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disbursements → record → commitments
For a project of such scale, two years of inconvenience is a given, said Channa.
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Channa → say → inconvenience
TransKarachi estimates the corridor work will be done by December 20, 2026.
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work → estimate → December
It said other components of the project will be completed progressively.
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components → say → project
The Malir Halt Depot is targeted for completion by April 2027, while the Bagh-e-Karachi Depot is expected to be completed by July 2027.
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Depot → target → July
The remaining structural and station works are targeted for completion by June 2028.
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works → remain → June
The Red Line has been divided into two lots or batches.
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Line → divide → lots
The contract was awarded to Zahir Khan & Brothers (ZKB) for Rs13.8 billion.
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contract → award → billion
The company’s key projects include Swat Motorway, Lahore Eastern Bypass, and New Jam Sadiq Bridge in Karachi.
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projects → include → Karachi
The company was also previously involved in the construction of mass transit, such as the Islamabad-Rawalpindi and Multan Metro Bus systems and the Lahore Orange Line Metro and depot.
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company → involve → systems
ZKB began work on Red Line’s Lot-1 on May 10, 2022 and had an initial completion deadline of May 9, 2024, which was later extended to June 30, 2026.
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which → begin → June
The second lot covers a 12.85-kilometre stretch with 16 stations and was awarded to China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group-AM Associates (joint venture) on January 4, 2022, for Rs15.93bn, and construction commenced on August 15 of the same year.
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construction → cover → year
The original completion deadline was August 14, 2024, which was later extended to June 30, 2026.
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which → extend → June
Per its website, AM Associates earlier also worked on the 19.21km Hazara Motorway and the Kohala–Muzaffarabad road for the National Highway Authority.
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Associates → work → Authority
On April 21, 2026, TransKarachi terminated its contract with China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group–AM Associates for Lot-2, citing slow progress, unsatisfactory performance and violations related to health, safety and the environment.
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TransKarachi → terminate → health
The contractor challenged the decision in the Sindh High Court, which referred the matter to the contract’s Dispute Resolution Board.
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which → challenge → Board
The board subsequently declared the termination “unlawful and invalid”, finding that it had been hasty and had failed to adequately account for the project’s complexity.
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it → declare → complexity
It also identified shortcomings on TransKarachi’s part, including its failure to provide complete designs and an unobstructed work site — factors that contributed to delays.
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that → identify → delays
The dispute therefore went beyond disagreements over the contractor’s performance: it also raised questions about the project authority’s own contractual obligations and how the stalled works would be completed.
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works → go → obligations
After the termination, the Sindh cabinet approved off-budget emergency funding and directly engaged the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) under a government-to-government arrangement to stabilise the corridor and restore essential infrastructure, i.e. mixed traffic lanes, service roads, and drainage along Lot-2.
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cabinet → approve → Lot-2
FWO took over the site in May 2026 and is scheduled to complete the assigned works by the end of the year.
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FWO → take → year
The contract for the remaining works—structural works and BRT station works—is in the tendering process and procurement will take place through ADB Open Competitive Bidding.
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procurement → remain → Bidding
…and 28 more, not listed.
The Aporia
