ISLAMABAD, Oct 04 (DNA): Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed
Ahmed will visit Railway Carriage Factory Islamabad on Monday where he
will inspect manufacturing of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) coaches.

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 on Saturday
agreed to run local trains on a 12-kilometer track in Karachi on a trial
basis in the next two months. 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.

“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.”

Earlier on September 30, the Sindh cabinet had approved the release of
Rs97 million for Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project. The decision
was taken during a meeting of the Sindh cabinet chaired by Chief
Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah. DNA

========