Sheikh Rasheed to inspect KCR coaches tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed will visit Railway Carriage Factory Islamabad tomorrow (Monday) where he will inspect manufacturing of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) coaches, ARY News reported.

As per details, Sheikh Rasheed will also address the workers working in the carriage factory.

The railways’ spokesperson said the minister would hold a press conference during the carriage factory visit.

In a major development, the federal and Sindh governments yesterday agreed to run local trains on a 12-kilometer track in Karachi on a trial basis in the next two months.

Read: Rasheed visits Karachi to inspect ‘soon to begin’ KCR project

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.

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.

Read More: ‘Encroachments on some portions of KCR track due to be cleared’

” 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.”