KARACHI: In a major development, the federal and Sindh governments on Saturday agreed to run local trains on a 12 kilometer track in Karachi on trial basis in next two months, ARY News reported.
The understanding came during a meeting between Sindh Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah and Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar in Karachi.
The local trains will run on the railway track meant for Karachi Circular Railway (KCR). The meeting decided to run the local trains from City Station to SITE through Wazir Mansion. The project will be executed in three phases.
Read More: ‘Encroachments on some portions of KCR track due to be cleared’
On the occasion, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah informed the meeting that encroachments on a five-kilometre-long portion of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) were due to be cleared for the complete revival of an approximately 43-kilometre-long track.
Sindh CM Syed Murad Ali Shah had made the statement while chairing a session regarding the progress of revival plan of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR).
” KCR project had been launched in 1964 and it remained functional till 1984 while it was halted in 1999. The Sindh government had taken initiative for the revival of KCR in 2006. The estimated cost of the KCR project was $2.6 billion at that time, however, JAICA dissociated from the project after the feasibility process in 2012.”
