This is apropos a Business Recorder op-ed "Reality of KCR" carried by the newspaper on Saturday. The writer, Farhat Ali, has presented a very informed analysis on the defunct Karachi Circular Railway which fell victim to the machinations of transport mafia and federal bureaucracy. Transport or lack of it constitutes the number one problem of this city of teeming millions. Both federal and Sindh governments are equally responsible for the plight of Karachiites who have lost dignity of travel decades ago.
Although, there exists no reliable data, millions of Karachiites do not still own any means of transportation - not even motorcycles or cycles. They face the travails of painful travel on a daily basis, losing time and also their self-esteem because of highly objectionable conduct of transport providers. No doubt, "the KCR was an instant success and made a significant profit in its first year of operation. During the 1970s and the 1980s, the KCR was at its peak with 104 daily trains, of which 80 trains ran on the main track while the remaining 24 on the loop line. The commuters were largely blue-collared workers who commuted from their newly established residential colony in Landhi to the then busting industries in SITE. This was a cost-effective and most efficient mode of travel for workers." The KCR must be revived without any further loss of time.
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