5 kms KCR land impossible to vacate sans Sindh govt's help: Sheikh Rashid.

ISLAMABAD -- Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed Friday said the five kilo meters land of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) could not be vacated without the help of Sindh government.

Addressing a press conference along with Special Assistant to Prime Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan, Minister for Power Division Omar Ayub, Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms, Khusro Bakhtiar and others, he said Pakistan Railways had already vacated around 38 kilometers for KCR project in Karachi out of a total of 43 kilo meters.

The minister said Pakistan Railways was also ready to provide the land to the affected people if Supreme Court allowed the department and the provincial government should promise to construct the homes for the affected people.

Sheikh Rashid said Main Line-I (ML-I) project between Karachi to Peshawar was the backbone of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which would bring revolution not only in Pakistan Railways but in the history of the country.

He said after 14 years in the country's history, the dream of ML-I was going to become a reality and under the project around 0.1 million jobs opportunities would be created.

The minister said after the completion of the project, the travel time from Lahore to Karachi would be reduced. 'The speed of ML-I trains will be 160 km/hr,' he added.

He said the development of ML-I would include fencing on both sides, repair of bridges and laying of new track from Peshawar to Karachi.

The project would remove all the unmanned level crossing on the railway network which would also control trains'...