Non-Fare Revenue (NFR) generation is important to make Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) sustainable for which policy research should be initiated on urgent basis, a government study reveals. NFR generation - research needs to be initiated for developing a NFR policy for KCR which will enable the Sindh Mass Authority/concerned department to implement the NFR generating ideas and proposals, and would make the KCR sustainable, a study of CPEC Center of Excellence on sustainable urban transport under CPEC suggests.
However, it says that Sindh Mass Transit Authority lacks the specialized expertise and resources needed to design some comprehensive NFR policy/marketing strategies. Study points out that the current KCR tracks are standardized under Pakistan Railways; however they have become obsolete and are at a mismatch with Chinese standards of engineering and transport. The standardization of scale is also an important avenue for exploration, it indicates.
The study identifies that land-use pattern along the KCR needs to be examined with possible policy recommendations in order to build the ridership for this CPEC-supported mega project in Karachi. Building ridership in mass-transit projects can be difficult when trip distances are short and parking is inexpensive like the case of Karachi. In addition, land use patterns are not transit-supportive in the case of Karachi. Hence, policy research is needed in this important area to make the KCR sustainable, it adds.
Study also identifies land encroachment as the biggest issue in the way of successful implementation of KCR. Almost 70-80% of land under KCR boundary is encroached by illegal settlements. The resettlement of these urban dwellers, fixation of land compensation rates, prevention of slum settlements and development of smart integrated city around KCR track are important research areas to be addressed so that the project could be completed as per the timelines.
KCR project has an estimated cost of $ 1.9 billion. The financing of the project was previously with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) who had proposed 10 years for its completion; however as one of the CPEC projects, KCR is targeted to be completed in 3 years, i.e. by 2020.
KCR would be a 43.2 kilometers standard gauge double railway track (14.94 km at surface and 28.18 km elevated) and would be constructed with allied structures on the existing land reserved for KCR.
Under the CPEC, the revival of KCR as a mass transit project is a primary focus of the federal and provincial government of Sindh. The 6th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting agreed in principle for inclusion of KCR as a rail based mass transit system in CPEC portfolio. The Joint Working Group (JWG) on Transport Infrastructure has been tasked to complete the necessary studies and consultation. Feasibility report was completed in May 2017 about the revival of the project.
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