Looking to invest: Importance of KCR’s revival stressed

Project was closed down in December 1999

KARACHI: Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) aims to minimise traffic and provide citizens an alternate mode of transport, said Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan while speaking to a delegation of China Social Economic Academy and China Railways at Governor House on Sunday.

KCR is an integral part of Karachi Mass Transit Programme and it needs to be initiated, he stressed, saying the project has already been delayed due to various reasons but now it should be initiated to make Karachi a modernised city. Speaking about the project, Karachi Urban Transport Corporation managing director said the total length of KCR is 43.12 kilometres and the estimated cost $2.6 billion.

He further informed that trains would operate from 6am to 11pm. The KCR was closed down in December 1999 due to lack of passengers, he said, adding that a boundary wall would be constructed around the track to protect it from encroachers.



Mega cities are known by their communication and transportation network, especially roads and the transport system. It is essential that special emphasis be laid on construction of new economic corridors, he said.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a proof of the close ties between China and Pakistan. CPEC would not only improve infrastructural facilities in the country but also provide ample employment opportunities and increase industrial production, he added. He stated that to ensure security of Chinese engineers working on CPEC and other projects, special security units have been established.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th,  2016.