The French Development Agency is among the financiers of Karachi’s delayed Red Line bus corridor. By 20 August 2026 the four financiers had disbursed about $128.93 million, according to the Asian Development Bank’s project data sheet. The French agency had released $21.38 million of its $71.8 million commitment. The Asian Development Bank had disbursed $87.63 million of a $235 million loan, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank $19.92 million of $71.8 million. No disbursement had been recorded against the Green Climate Fund’s combined $49 million in grants and loans. ADB documents list 30 April 2027 as the loan closing date.
The Red Line runs 26.6 km from Numaish, near Quaid-e-Azam’s Mazar, to Malir Halt, past Karachi airport, and includes University Road. Planners estimated it would need more than 260 electric buses. Zubair Channa, chief executive of TransKarachi, the public company in charge, said more than 60 per cent of regular commuters cross Numaish every day. A 2011 survey put traffic at the busiest intersections at up to 166,000 vehicles a day, roughly half to two-thirds of them motorbikes and rickshaws and only 5 per cent buses. The corridor was one of six bus rapid transit routes proposed after surveys by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Work began in March 2022 and, more than four years later, is less than half complete. Channa said two years of inconvenience is expected on a project of this scale. TransKarachi estimates the corridor works will finish by 20 December 2026, the Malir Halt depot by April 2027 and the Bagh-e-Karachi depot by July 2027, with remaining structural and station works targeted for June 2028.
Lot 1, 9.4 km from Malir Halt to Mosamiyat with six stations and two depots, went to Zahir Khan & Brothers for Rs13.8 billion. Work started on 10 May 2022; an initial deadline of 9 May 2024 was extended to 30 June 2026. Lot 2, 12.85 km with 16 stations, went on 4 January 2022 to a joint venture of China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group and AM Associates for Rs15.93 billion. Construction began on 15 August 2022, and a deadline of 14 August 2024 was also extended to 30 June 2026.
On 21 April 2026 TransKarachi terminated the Lot 2 contract, citing slow progress, unsatisfactory performance and health, safety and environmental violations. The contractor challenged the decision in the Sindh High Court, which sent the case to the contract’s Dispute Resolution Board. The board later called the termination unlawful and invalid, saying it was hasty and did not adequately account for the project’s complexity. It also found shortcomings by TransKarachi, including failure to provide complete designs and an unobstructed work site.
The Sindh cabinet then approved off-budget emergency funding and engaged the Frontier Works Organisation under a government-to-government arrangement to restore mixed traffic lanes, service roads and drainage on Lot 2. The organisation took over in May 2026 and is due to finish those works by the end of the year. The remaining structural and station works are out to tender through ADB open competitive bidding. Bids were submitted on 8 October and were being evaluated, with an award expected within about a month. Rehan said the lowest bidder gets the contract.
TransKarachi attributed delays to post-Covid inflation, land acquisition for depots, design revisions and slow relocation of utility lines. Channa said there is no justification for the delay, while maintaining that the disruption is the cost of longer-term relief for Karachi.
People along the route described dust, jams and lost trade. A stallholder at Safoora Chowrangi said the work had lasted more than 3.5 years and that there is no work. A stallholder at Mosamiyat said a once-crowded stall now has barely any customers. A shop owner on University Road said the business had shut down because the road in front of the shop had been dug up. A University of Karachi student said morning classes were missed almost every day and that an evening rickshaw ride could take about an hour. A commuter at NIPA said about 60 per cent of the day is spent in traffic.
TransKarachi says displaced people are compensated at rates from Rs27,500 to Rs302,500 by type and category. So far 131 people have been paid, in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Rehan said they were mainly vendors in extended structures and movable pushcarts, and that no permanent structures were affected.
A grievance system logged 14 complaints in September 2026, most about traffic, then utilities, access and the environment. Rehan said a corrective plan or a resolution is arranged with the relevant department, project team or contractor, and that the complainant is told by email and given three days to respond before the case is closed if there is no reply.