Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday performed the groundbreaking of Karachi Circular Railway at the cantonment railway station.
The project worth 20.7 billion rupees will be completed in less than two years and would reportedly facilitate almost half-a-million passengers every day.
Addressing the ceremony, the Prime Minister said Karachi is economic hub of Pakistan and there is a dire need to design more projects for the city to deal with the transport issues arising from growing population. Imran Khan said federal and provincial governments will have to work jointly to address issues of Karachi.
The Karachi circular railway project is in line with the vision of the federal government to modernize public transport in Karachi. Under the project, not only the older route will be rehabilitated but it will also be expanded and modernized.
The modern circular railway comprises of thirty stations that will link residential, industrial and corporate areas. The project will not only decrease the flow of traffic on roads Karachi but will also facilitate the passengers.
According to the spokesperson of Pakistan Railways, the Karachi Circular Railway track will be built without crossings, thus allowing trains to run at 80 kilometer per hour. The KCR project will include a 43km-long dual carriage track, including 29km elevated, along with 24 level crossings and 16 stations. Each train would have a capacity of carrying 814 commuters.
Initially started in 1964, the circular railway was originally designed to facilitate the employees of Pakistan Railways travel between residence and their workplaces. The intra-city train service in 1970 turned into a full circle of 44 km connecting four main work areas of the city — the port, the Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE), the city’s central commercial areas such as Saddar, and the Landhi Industrial Area. KCR was shut down in 1999.
