Karachi Circular Railway

[Hyde]

Found nice piece of information from Jang newspaper posted in October so I thought why not share here

Source: http://ejang.jang.com.pk/10-7-2010/images/02_06.gif

 

[Hyde]

This is closest version of translation I found on Internet
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The Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Karachi Urban Transport Corporation (KUTC) to explore the opportunities for providing electricity to Karachi Circular Railway.

The KCR will be revived as a modern commuter system to meet the transportation need of the citizens of the metropolis, a statement said.

The revival of KCR will ultimately change the face of Karachi. The total route length of the dual tracks on the Karachi Circular Railway Project Stage-I and Stage-II would be 43.12 kilometer (Karachi City to NIPA - 22.86 kilometers and NIPA to Karachi City Station and along mainline - 20.26 kilometers) with 24 stations. Trains will be operated at six minutes interval and will have a capacity of 942 to 1391 passengers, 18,840 to 30,602 passengers per hour and 0.69 million passengers per day.

The entire KCR project will be provided with electric traction infrastructure and modernised signaling and telecommunication system. The MoU will open dialogue between KESC and KUTC for the provision of about 120 megawatts for the project.

KESC is in the process of expanding its generation facilities in Karachi and intends to provide adequate supply of electric power to the KCR project upon its completion and operation in 2014.

Karachi Urban Transport Corporation is the implementation authority established to manage and execute the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project.

The project is to be funded by the government of Japan. The KCR stations will have latest facilities of computerised ticketing, automated ticket gates, vending machines and elevators.

Buses will be operated to and from KCR stations to facilitate passengers from different destination also.

 

[pak-marine]

good project v need trains bad .... however one question to kesc load shedding main kia ho ga? ya that means no more electricity for residential usage

 

[Hyde]

good project v need trains bad .... however one question to kesc load shedding main kia ho ga? ya that means no more electricity for residential usage

I think train services will be provided with separate transmission lines that has nothing to do with residential or commercial electricity and secondly its only 120MW I am sure one extra plant in Thar coal will do the fine job for us

 

[Hyde]

What I am thinking is the total cost of this project?

We have been discussing Karachi Circular Railways in past but always nothing constructive came after several years. I hope this time everything goes according to plan and this network is widespread all across Karachi!

 

[Karachiite]

This is old news. Nothing will get done under this corrupt PPP government. Mustafa Kamal begged the government to fund KCR but they didn't accept that and now Japan has agreed to loan $1.5 billion which will be 100% funding of the project but our dirty and corrupt politicians don't want that. KCR has been in the works since the 70s.

 

[Karachiite]

Government fails to remove snags hitting KCR revival: project cost escalation feared
RECORDER REPORT
KARACHI (December 04, 2010) : The government seems to be least interested in revival of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR), as the important project to revive the KCR is hitting many snags and the government has not yet removed the same. The Economic Affairs Division, Islamabad has not yet resolved the issue of "re-lending" of funds for the $1.58 billion foreign funded KCR project.

Besides, the Sindh Government has not yet transferred the land needed to resettle the thousands of KCR project's affectees living along the railway lines, sources said. It is feared that if the several issues related to the foreign funded project were not resolved, which would ultimately delay the project, the cost of the project would increase.

According to the sources, if the re-lending issue was not solved timely and the fund was released under the available procedure, the project funds would face the drastic cut of 6.8 percent "risk rate" and almost 12 percent "interest rate" making the total deduction 18 percent from the approved fund.

The direct transfer of the amount to KUTC through the federal government, which would face an 18 percent cut, would make the project unviable, sources said, adding that the project which required to have a safe route for the transfer of fund from the foreign country while avoiding any reduction in terms of risk or interest rate.

During the last five months, the high ups of Economic Affairs Division and Planning Commission could not arrange high level meeting to settle outstanding issues related to the Japan-funded project. Besides, the provincial revenue department has not transferred the ownership of land to KUTC from Malir Development Authority (MDA) and other institutions to the KCR affected people.

However, the department, what the sources claimed, was facing land related issues after the flood, which has devastated/ washed away acres of agricultural/cultivable lands in the province. It is to be mentioned here that the KCR project, aimed at mitigating traffic problems in this metropolis, has to be funded by government of Japan through the Japan Bank of International Co-operation (JBIC). Tokyo has commissioned 100 percent funding for the project under "STEP Loan" at 0.2 percent mark-up rate for a 40-year payback time, including a 10-year grace period.

http://www.brecorder.com/news/business-and-economy/pakistan/1130276:news.html

 

[TOPGUN]

Any pic's of what the train would look like ... i know this is old news though.

 

[greatsequence]

Bijli kahan sai aai gi. Pakistan mai to Bijli or Gas dono band hain.

 

[Nothing]

What I am thinking is the total cost of this project?

We have been discussing Karachi Circular Railways in past but always nothing constructive came after several years. I hope this time everything goes according to plan and this network is widespread all across Karachi!

This kind of project in mega city like Karachi need lot more than money and political support.

First government need to build positive opinion in People for mega project. This size of project will take lots of time (several years ) as well as lots of money , once development starts it should not stop unless and until objective achieved, to keep project and its costing on track.
People in city should be ready to scarify many things .. years of traffic jam (worse than what is currently) and many have to leave their house and shop and they have to resettled some where else.

Knowing troubled environment ( no finger pointing here ) in Karachi .. any protest against land reclamation for railway can turn into violent riots or political lock down.
Not even 1 day of work should get started before getting all land necessary to build railway line and platforms.

Instead of planning any thing alone government should involve some experience company in process. That way one can assure more realistic, less politically polish plan and view on project.

I know many of these points because I am following metro railway development in Mumbai very closely.

 

[rohailmalhi]

Na kar meray dost last time i cheack lahore main load shedding nahi ho rahe thee.

 

[aks18]

this project is not going to happen not even lahore metro project

 

[Introvert]

CONSTRUCTION WORK ON CIRCULAR TRAIN TO BEGIN BY DECEMBER 2017

​

Work on the construction of circular train, linking Peshawar with Charsadda, Mardan and Nowshera, will begin by December this year.

A Spokesman of the provincial government told Radio Pakistan's Peshawar Correspondent Falak Niaz that the project will be completed at a cost of one point six billion dollar in three years.

The train will have a speed of two hundred and twenty kilometers per hour.

In the next phase, the train service will be extended to Swabi and other areas of the province.

http://www.radio.gov.pk/03-Sep-2017/construction-work-on-circular-train-to-begin-by-december-2017

 

[Ultimate Weapon]

CONSTRUCTION WORK ON CIRCULAR TRAIN TO BEGIN BY DECEMBER 2017

​

Work on the construction of circular train, linking Peshawar with Charsadda, Mardan and Nowshera, will begin by December this year.

A Spokesman of the provincial government told Radio Pakistan's Peshawar Correspondent Falak Niaz that the project will be completed at a cost of one point six billion dollar in three years.

The train will have a speed of two hundred and twenty kilometers per hour.

In the next phase, the train service will be extended to Swabi and other areas of the province.

http://www.radio.gov.pk/03-Sep-2017/construction-work-on-circular-train-to-begin-by-december-2017

Doesn't this thread is about Karachi circular railway.

 

[niaz]

In my view, KCR was one of the many worthwhile projects started during Ayub Khan era. Though I never used it myself, I saw Karachi circular railway in operation from 1969 until 1976 while working for Esso.

It was a well-used railway and running in the black until the 1980s. However, as usually happens with the onset of democracy in Pakistan, from the 1990’s KCR was running in the red primarily because the operating staff were pocketing part of the money collected as fares. Result was lack of funds for maintenance which in turn reduced the number of passengers increasing the losses.

Nevertheless, solution of Karachi's transportation problem is not more buses / metro buses, more cars or even more motor cycles. These simply cause more traffic jams and more pollution. Only way to facilitate the movement of people in any large metropolis is through some kind of mass transit system. It could be surface trains, overhead or the underground trains; even a ferry and / or a mixture of all of the above is available in some cities. In addition to the sub-way system, Staten Island Ferry is used by about 70,000 New Yorkers every day.

Part of the track, some infrastructure and the route already exists for Karachi Circular Railway therefore its revival is the least cost option. However it must be ‘Poor’ friendly to attract passengers.

Even KCR does not fully recovers its operating cost, it would still be economical for the country because large number of Karchiites using KCR means less import & use of buses, consequently less diesel import and less wear & tear of the roads.