A.Rafay
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KARACHI:
With a Japanese team expected to visit the city end of this month, it appears the much-awaited Karachi Circular Railway project is finally moving ahead.
According to Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) administrator Muhammad Hussain Syed, the funds are expected to b released by March, after which the work will begin immediately.
“In the first phase, a 22-kilometre long track will be built from Drigh Road Station to Wazir Mansion,” he said. Once completed, the residents will have an alternative to congested public buses and will be able to cut short their travelling time by half. The railway system will cater to around 700,000 people a day.
Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA) senior director for financial assistance Akitoshi Li met Syed and other officials on Tuesday and discussed the financial appraisals likely to be carried out later this month.
“We were grilled today,” claimed an official, who attended the meeting. He explained that, “The Japanese wanted to hear from the top KMC man if the project will give social benefits”.
The $1.558 billion project, which is considered to be vital in tackling the traffic woes of the city, has faced continuous delays, despite the Japanese firm’s commitment to bear 93 percent of the costs.
The electrical locomotives will run at an average speed of 44km per hour on a system of elevated, on-the-ground and tunnel tracks that will be spread along over 43km. The circular railway system will also have 24 stations and a train will pass through each one of them every six minutes.
KMC Administrator Syed said the project will help thousands of people who cannot afford taxis and rickshaws every day. “The construction of this railway system will also create jobs for many people.”
After running the circular railway for four decades, the cash-strapped Pakistan Railways stopped operating the service in 1999.
The closure added pressure on private transport, mostly buses. Successive attempts have been made to revive the circular railway but they failed, mostly because of Pakistan Railway’s poor financial position.
Need for speed: KCR to cut travel time by half – The Express Tribune
With a Japanese team expected to visit the city end of this month, it appears the much-awaited Karachi Circular Railway project is finally moving ahead.
According to Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) administrator Muhammad Hussain Syed, the funds are expected to b released by March, after which the work will begin immediately.
“In the first phase, a 22-kilometre long track will be built from Drigh Road Station to Wazir Mansion,” he said. Once completed, the residents will have an alternative to congested public buses and will be able to cut short their travelling time by half. The railway system will cater to around 700,000 people a day.
Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA) senior director for financial assistance Akitoshi Li met Syed and other officials on Tuesday and discussed the financial appraisals likely to be carried out later this month.
“We were grilled today,” claimed an official, who attended the meeting. He explained that, “The Japanese wanted to hear from the top KMC man if the project will give social benefits”.
The $1.558 billion project, which is considered to be vital in tackling the traffic woes of the city, has faced continuous delays, despite the Japanese firm’s commitment to bear 93 percent of the costs.
The electrical locomotives will run at an average speed of 44km per hour on a system of elevated, on-the-ground and tunnel tracks that will be spread along over 43km. The circular railway system will also have 24 stations and a train will pass through each one of them every six minutes.
KMC Administrator Syed said the project will help thousands of people who cannot afford taxis and rickshaws every day. “The construction of this railway system will also create jobs for many people.”
After running the circular railway for four decades, the cash-strapped Pakistan Railways stopped operating the service in 1999.
The closure added pressure on private transport, mostly buses. Successive attempts have been made to revive the circular railway but they failed, mostly because of Pakistan Railway’s poor financial position.
Need for speed: KCR to cut travel time by half – The Express Tribune
