KARACHI: After remaining non-functional for over 21 years, the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) was partially restored on Thursday.
An inaugural function was held on the occasion which was attended by Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, the railways minister said that the circular railway would run from Karachi City Station on the 46km track starting today, that included the 14km KCR track.
“After 15 days, another 14km track will be added and an additional 12 gates will be installed, whereas construction of track crossings will also be completed.”
Currently, the KCR project comprises of a 44km long track, with the inclusion of a 30km loop with 20 stations, and a 14km main line with five stations.
Today’s inauguration focused on the first of the three phases of KCR’s revival. In this phase, trains will run along the 14km track from Karachi City Station to Orangi Station and back.
The second phase will cater to the 7km track running from Orangi Station to Gilani Station, while the third comprises the 9km track from Gilani Station to Drigh Colony.
Rasheed said that two trains per day will run the inaugurated route initially. The number of trains will increase to eight on Dec 14, and finally 20 trains will ply the route on a regular basis.
The fare for the circular railway has been fixed at Rs30, with the working class being able to travel with a Rs750 monthly card.
Further addressing the ceremony, the minister said “a powerful land mafia had usurped the land belonging to the KCR”, and that the railways ministry was not getting the political support needed to reclaim the land. He said the ministry was cooperating with the Sindh government fully, and that the provincial government has released the tenders for the overhead track to the FWO.
“The KCR trains will begin plying longer routes as the crossings and the overhead tracks will continue to be constructed,” he stated. “The circular railway will be completely modernised with a year.”
Rasheed credited the KCR’s revival to the efforts of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Sindh government and the workers of the Pakistan Railways.
The KCR first began its operations in the year 1969, under the administration of Pakistan Railways. Its trains served the Karachi metropolitan area as an affordable means of intra-city transport for thirty years, until the service was eventually discontinued in 1999.
