Infrastructure investment: Govt to launch $1.27bn Karachi Light Rail project

Chief minister wants the project to start by October 1 and be completed by 2018.

KARACHI: The Sindh government has decided to launch a $1.27 billion Karachi Light Rail Brown Line project and expect it to be completed by the beginning of 2018.

A committee has also been constituted to remove all the bottlenecks so that the proposed project can be started on October 1. This was decided at a meeting of Sindh government representatives and the Chinese company Sinosure at CM House on Monday. This meeting was presided over by Sindh Chief Mininster Qaim Ali Shah.

In their presentation, the Chinese team said that the project will start from Singer round-about via Korangi, Shah Faisal Road and Rashid Minhas Road. It will have a terminal station at Anda Morr on the north side of Nagan Chowrangi overpass.

The total length of the Brown Line project is 18.38 kilometres, of which 20.63 per cent or 3.7 kilometres will be underground while 12.92 kilometres will be elevated.

The project will have 13 stations, of which, three will be underground while 10 will be elevated, with one rolling stock base and operational control centres. The team expects the passenger volume to reach 20,000 to 70,0000 persons per one-way trip during peak hours.

This project will be able to generate Rs3 billion annually and can fetch up to Rs3.5 billion a year if advertisement and stalls are set up at each station.

The Sinosure group told the chief minister that 60 per cent of the total cost will be a 13-year Chinese loan while the Sindh government will have to pay 40 per cent of the total cost. The Chinese team said that 11 of their experts have made four trips to Karachi and each trip was of 20 days. During their visit they conducted soil investigation, site surveys, traffic information studies and coordinated with different Sindh government departments.

They told the chief minister that they have formed a 50-member team with 20 design experts and 30 construction experts to prepare a project proposal, conduct a feasibility study, prepare concept and pre-preliminary designs of civil and electrical works, signaling and the preparation of documents for the Chinese loan within two months.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2015.