KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday performed the groundbreaking of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project to improve transportation in the metropolis.
Addressing the ceremony at Cantt Station, the prime minister said federal and provincial governments will have to work jointly to address issues of Karachi. “Since the KCR is a big project, the Sindh and the federal governments will have to push harder for timely completion and make it a cost-effective project,” the premier said.
PM Imran Khan said Karachi is economic hub of the country and they have to design more projects for the city to cope with growing population and transport issues. He said water shortage is a big challenge of Karachi and K-4 project will help resolve this issue.
“In the 1980s, Karachi was on its way to development and was taking off but, unfortunately, progress declined,” PM Khan said. He lauded his government for taking initiatives to develop the city, such as the Karachi Transformation Plan, introduced in 2020.
“We initiated the Karachi Transformation Plan, in collaboration with the Sindh government, to uplift the metropolis,” he said, adding that the both the Centre and the provincial government will have to work together to resolve the issues faced by Karachi.
Railways Minister Azam Khan Swati briefed regarding the KCR and had said that the project will be completed in three years against a cost of Rs207 billion.
The KCR’s 29-kilometre track will have 16 stations and 24 level crossings. Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) will lay the track for the KCR while automatic air-conditioned coaches will be run on the track. Each train will comprise a locomotive and four coaches and will facilitate 814 passengers at a time. Global tenders will be invited for procurement of the trains.
According to the spokesperson of Pakistan Railways, the track of KCR will be built without crossings on which trains would run at the speed of 80 kilometer per hour while each train would have the capacity of 814 passengers.
In line with the vision of the federal government to modernize the public transport in Karachi, the circular railway is not only being rehabilitated but also being expanded and modernized.
