Japan out as China emerges new contender in Karachi Circular Railway project
China will now cooperate with the Sindh government to help
it revive the long-delayed Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) within three
years under a recently signed memorandum of understanding, the Senate’s
Standing Committee on Planning and Development was informed on Monday.Briefing
the committee, Planning Secretary Shoaib Siddiqui said the Rs270
billion project was to be completed with the assistance of the Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA), but due to its long schedule
the government decided to include the project in the China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor.He said around 550,000 commuters were
expected to travel through the KCR daily. The 43-kilometre-long railway
line will go through Landhi, Wazir Mansion, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, COD,
Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Orangi Town and Chanesar Goth. The route will have 24
stations.The Sindh government and JICA started looking
into the possibility of collaborating to revive the KCR about seven
years ago, but the project is still in limbo.
The chairman of the Senate committee, Tahir Mashhadi,
welcomed the decision and said Karachi was the fourth-largest city of
the world, but a major segment of the population was deprived of
effective and affordable transport facility.