Only KCR can solve Karachi's traffic woes, Murad reminds railways minister.

KARACHI -- Just a day after the federal government clearly stated that the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project was not likely to be expanded anytime soon, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah informed Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique on Friday that the traffic issues of the metropolis could only be solved with the establishment of a modern KCR system.

Mr Rafique held a meeting with the Sindh CM here in which the two sides agreed to remove all the hurdles to start mega projects of national interest, including KCR, laying of railway tracks to transport Thar coal to upcountry, functionalisation of different airports and resolution of land dispute between the provincial government and the Civil Aviation Authority on top priority basis.

'Karachi is a megalopolis city and its traffic issues can only be solved with the establishment of a modern KCR system which would be supplemented and integrated with different BRT lines,' Mr Shah reminded the railways minister.

'The KCR was included in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) priority projects and approved by the CPEC-related Joint Coordination Committee in December 2016. The ECNEC had approved the project at a cost of Rs207.54 billion, including Chinese loan of $1.971 billion.'

The railways minister informed the meeting participants that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was scheduled to visit China very soon and he would also accompany him in the crucial trip.

The development of the KCR, he said, was on the agenda of the discussion and hopefully it would be approved with mutual understanding of the two countries.

The chief minister said that time had come to fuel all the coal-fired power projects of the country with indigenous Thar coal. This would not only save the foreign exchange, but would also be cheaper than the imported coal, he said and urged the railway minister to expedite laying of the railway tracks from Thar coal mines to the main line.

The meeting, after thorough discussion on different tracks, finally approved a 105-kilometre track from Thar coal fields to New Chhor halt station on Mirpurkhas-Khokhrapar Section.

It was decided that the existing signalling system on Mirpurkhas-New Chhor section would be improved and two universal loops with a...