CPEC: KCR worth Rs 292.389 billion approved

Islamabad: Pakistan’s Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has approved China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)’s Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project worth Pakistani Rs 292.389 billion.

The approval came during its meeting held here under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal.

The project envisages construction of 44-kilometer long and dedicated track, 1.435-meter wide standard gauge, starts from Drig Road passes through different areas including, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Federal B Area, Liaquatabad, North Nazimabad, Nazimabad, Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) and Lyari.

The scope of work includes construction of horizontal and vertical curvature, roadway/railway cross-section elements, ramp gradients and layout of structures with respect to the alignment.

The scope of work also includes construction stations, provision of Driver. Informatory, Regulatory and Warning Signs, passenger facilitation signs along with allied facilities.

The project is a part of an overall scheme of improvement of transport infrastructure including road network, provision of public transport / mass transit facilities and traffic management in Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan and the capital of the Province of Sindh.

The development of KCR as a Modern Urban Railway will add to the existing Public Transport facilities in Karachi which have fallen short to meet the incremental demand over the last few decades due to non-availability of modern mass transit facilities and declining supply of large buses while the city continues to expand in population and urban area.

The main objective of the project is to provide reliable, safe and environmentally friendly public transport to the Metropolitan City of Karachi.

The project entails construction of a 43-kilometer Dual Track Urban Rail Mass Transit System expected to be constructed in a period of 4 years.

The project is expected to serve a daily ridership of 457,000 passengers per day which is expected to soar to 1 million per day in future. The project will deploy the use of electric trains and will be operational for 7 days a week and 17 hours a day.

Thirty stations would be constructed under the project along the corridor covering the densely populated area of the city.

The economic benefits of the project are phenomenal in terms of saving vehicle operating costs, environmental protection, accidents and time savings, contribution towards promoting gender equality, and spill-over tax impact.

The meeting was attended by Secretary Ministry of Planning Commission, Chief Economist, officials from Ministry of Railway and representatives from Sindh Government.

Ahsan Iqbal on the occasion directed the concerned officials to immediately settle the issues in Planning Commission Form –I (PC-1) and submit the report in two days.