CDWP approves
Karachi Circular Railway
43-km long dual track will be complete in 3 years
on Public-Private Partnership basis

Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has approved the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project worth Rs273.071 billion and referred it to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for further consideration.
CDWP moot that was chaired by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Jahanzeb was attended by the officials of Railways, representatives of the provincial government and other stakeholders.
As per briefing given by Secretary Railway to the committee, the 43-kilometer dual track for Urban Rail Mass Transit System would be constructed in three years on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis.
The objective of the project is to provide reliable, safe, and eco-friendly public transport to the metropolitan city of Karachi.
Secretary Railway said: the project is expected to serve a daily ridership of 4,57,000, projected to soar to one million a day by the end of the 33-years concession period.
“KCR will deploy the use of an electric train that will be operational round the week,” the secretary said. Under the plan, 30 stations would be constructed along the corridor covering the most densely populated areas of Karachi.
KCR commences from Karachi city station and moves along the mainline on Drigh Road Station, goes across Shahrah-e- Faisal, and enters into Gulistan-e-Johar, and Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
The alignment passes through the older residential areas of North Nazimabad, Nazimabad leading to the SITE area and further to the Port, and then reaches back to Karachi City Station.
The development of KCR as a modern urban mass transit system will greatly improve the existing public transport facilities in Karachi, fallen short to meet the incremental demand over the last few decades due to the non-availability of modern mass transit facilities and decline in the supply of large buses, while the city continues to expand. ERMD