ISLAMABAD, April 18: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged China to help restore the mass transit rail network, Karachi Circular Railway, which has been lying defunct for the last two decades.
The prime minister requested this while inaugurating Orange Line Metro Bus Service from Peshawar Morr to New Islamabad International Airport on Monday.
“The project of KCR is very vital to the people of Karachi and it will transport hundreds of thousands of commuters every day,” Sharif said. “I would take advantage of this opportunity…. Kindly convey my request to Beijing, NDRC (National Development and Reform Commission) and our great leader President Xi to reconsider KCR for Karachi as this would bring great dividends,” he told the Chinese chargé d’affaires at the inauguration.
Sharif reaffirmed the commitment to work tirelessly for the welfare of the people, saying he will work with the same speed that he is used to. The prime minister regretted delay in the operationalisation of Peshawar Morr-New Islamabad Airport metro bus service.
He said this project was a gift from PML-N Quaid Mian Nawaz Sharif to the residents of the federal capital. It was started in 2017 and it had to be operationalised in 2018. However, like other projects, the previous government delayed this public transport project as well. He said the lack of will and spirit delayed this project, otherwise, there was no other reason as funds were available for it.
The prime minister said that no ticket will be charged from the commuters using this metro service during the holy month of Ramzan. He said fifteen buses have been taken from Punjab Metro Authority to run this service.
Sharif expressed his gratitude to China and Turkey for their contributions in the public transport project. He said China is a great friend which has always stood by Pakistan and contributed immensely to building Pakistan’s economy. He said the CPEC is a game changer project. The prime minister was also appreciative of Turkey for standing by Pakistan in difficult times.
Commissioned in 1964, the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) was originally designed to help Pakistan Railways employees by facilitating their movement between their workplaces and residences in the city’s eastern neighborhoods.
The service remained popular until 1984 when the number of trains reduced, though it was the lack of maintenance and repair, along with a gap between expenditure and revenue, which led to its closure in 1999.
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan did the ground breaking ceremony for the project’s revival last September, nearly a year after former railways minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed partially reactivated it but could not make it fully functional. -TLTP
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