VT Problems Upset Riders In Pakistan Bus Line

Passengers on the Green Line bus service in Karachi, Pakistan, are raising complaints over the failure or shutdown of most elevators and escalators at stops for the transportation system, DAWN reports. The Green Line had become fully operational a month earlier, but the vertical-transportation (VT) system has now become largely unavailable along the route’s 22 stations. One passenger gazed momentarily at the flight of stairs at one of the stations before taking a deep breath and making a climb up the steps. “I have often asked the men in uniform here to kindly turn on the escalators, but I am told that they have deliberately kept them off because turning them on invites children to go up and down on them,” the rider said. When the bus service was starting, it was said that very soon all escalators and lifts would begin working under new machinery and equipment. An official said the elevators and escalators were installed but then sat idle for three years, until government officials oversaw bus scheduling. However, as the VT sat waiting, dust and lack of use resulted in breakdowns of many of the elevators and escalators. Another problem is the theft of parts on the elevators and escalators, a situation that requires repairs.