Karachi: The federal and Sindh governments have agreed to commence the trial run of local trains within a 12-kilometre range of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) track by the end of this year, a news source reported on October 4. The decision was taken in a meeting held between Planning Minister Asad Umar and Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah.
The meeting was also attended by Minister for Transport Awais Qadir Shah, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Advocate General (AG) Salman Talibuddin, P&D Secretary Mathar Niaz, Railways Secretary Habibur Rehman and other high officials of the provincial and federal governments.
The KCR had originally been commissioned in 1964, remained operational till 1984, and was completely shut down by 1999. Now, the federal and the provincial governments are working hand-in-hand to revive it. The ‘relaunch decision’ was taken in a recent meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) after the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan issued directives to the effect.
