Peoples bus service starts commercial operation on one of seven routes.

KARACHI -- In this era of exquisitely expensive petrol and diesel, when the people of Karachi are also looking around for alternative means of transport, there has come a gift by the Sindh government in the shape of the 120 brand new bright red air-conditioned buses, which started their operation as soon as they were inaugurated by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari here on Monday.

Though he did not have much to say, the young foreign affairs minister quickly climbed on the bus after carrying out the inauguration. Then he took the back seat in the first bus parked in a long row of buses on Fatima Jinnah Road and waved out to the Karachi media gathered outside. The tinted glass was making it difficult to see him very well as the bus started moving.

That's when the media also tried getting on the buses behind his. Only six or seven of them were successful in hoping inside as the doors jammed shut and the buses picked up speed to follow the one in the front with the VIPs, namely Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Sharjeel Memon, Sharmila Farooqi, Saeed Ghani, Karachi Administrator Murtaza Wahab and others.

Bearing part of Sindh's ruling political party's name, the 'Peoples Bus Service' is an intra-district bus project.

The buses, imported from China, are quite nice, roomy and comfortable. What's more they are affordable and accessible, too. The bus fare, depending on the distance travelled, is said to vary from Rs25 to Rs50.

There is a section for women in the front, an area for handicapped persons in wheelchairs, a section for families and another for men in the back. It is a 29-seater bus with provision for some 25 people to also travel while standing so it has a capacity of around 54 persons.

Having 38 stations, identified by red markings on the road, the buses will operate on seven routes.

From Model Colony to Tower (29.5 kilometres), from North Karachi to Indus Hospital in Korangi (32.9km), from Nagan Chowrangi to Singer Chowrangi in Korangi Industrial Area (33km), from North Karachi to Dockyard (30.4km), from Surjani Town to PAF Masroor (28.2km), from Gulshan-i-Bihar in Orangi Town to Singer Chowrangi (29km) and from Mosamiyat to Baldia Town (28.9km).

However, only route one i.e. from Model Colony to Tower was launched on Monday. Remaining six routes will be launched one by one after every 10 days.

Sindh Information Minister...