A high level meeting held under the chairmanship of Sindh Governor, Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan here Monday approved in principle the revival of long pending Karachi Circular Railway.
The project will cost an estimated $1 billion, which includes a Japanese loan of 872 million dollars. The meeting was attended by Federal Railway Minister, Shaikh Rasheed Ahmed, Chief Secretary Fazlur Rehman, Chairman Railway, Nazim Karachi, Syed Mustafa Kamal, Principal Secretary, Mohammed Saleem Khan, D.S. Railway Mir Mohammed Khaskheli and other officials.
The feasibility of the project will be presented by JETRO and work will start after project approval by ECNEC and Planning Commission. The Governor urged the authorities to finalise all the phases expeditiously and said implementation of the project must start by the beginning of new year because already a lot of time has passed and there should be no further delay now. He said steps should be taken to complete the project in three years.
He said it is also the desire of President Pervez Musharraf to get this project completed at the earliest. He pointed out that with KCR becoming operational, the urban transport system will witness a revolutionary change and people will have better transport facilities.
The Governor said the expertise, experience and resource available with Pakistan Railway would prove a great assistance for completion of project which would then be transferred to Karachi Urban Transport Corporation.