Karachi: ADB to provide $2 billion loan for LRTS

[Naveed Yaseen]

ISMAIL DILAWAR
KARACHI (October 10 2008): Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to lend over $2 billion to Pakistan which is considering to introduce Light Rail Transit System (LRTS) in one of its most congested cities, Karachi. According to official sources the regional loaning institution has expressed its willingness to provide Pakistan with a soft loan to be used for development of the mega project.

"ADB has committed to provide us a big loan of over $2 billion for the LRTS project," said an official in Sindh government. They said feasibility study for LRTS would soon be initiated jointly by the Sindh and city governments.

The present Pakistan People's Party-led government is eyeing the proposed light rail system as an effective and practicable way to encourage the masses to prefer public transport as a means of travelling rather than private cars or motorcycles, said the sources.

The new system, they said, would have a subway-like mechanism of stop-by-stop brakes, like most of the developed and some of the developing countries. They said the government was following a comprehensive strategy that includes projects, like Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), LRTS and Heavy Rail Transit System to improve the overall transportation system in the metropolis.

The government of Pakistan, they said, was already in talks with ADB for a soft loan worth $600 million to finance the Bogota-like Bus Rapid Transit System in Karachi. The ADB loan for BRTS would also be used for conducting feasibility study for the LRTS, added the sources. "This is the success of Sindh government that the international loaning institutions like ADB is committing such a big loan to us," said the official.

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