Sindh government to launch Karachi rail project

Karachi: The provincial Sindh government has decided to launch a rail project for the mega city to complete within three years at the cost of $1.7 billion (Dh6.2 billion).

The approval of the project came in a meeting on Monday presided by Syed Qaiam Ali Shah, the chief minister of the province.

This largest city of Pakistan has faced immense transportation problem as there is no mass transit system.

Public transport needs are mostly served by small auto rickshaws.

A Chinese company — Sinosure — has been assigned to work on the project, sources said.

In its presentation, the company told the chief minister that the total length of the rail road, which has been named the Brown Line, is 18.38 kilometres of which 3.7 kilometres would be under ground while 12.92 kilometres track would be elevated.

The project envisaged setting up of 13 stations of which three would be under ground.

The train would be capable to carry 20,000 to 70,000 passengers on a single trip.

They further said that the government would meet the 40 per cent cost of the project whereas remaining 60 per cent financing would be raised through a 13-year Chinese loan.

The engineers and experts of the Chinese company had already made several tours of Karachi to undertake the soil testing, site surveys and traffic flows of this mega city.

Besides, the company was also planning to deploy a 50-member team of its experts for implementation of the project.

The team would work on project proposal, feasibility reports, and preliminary civil and mechanical design of the railroad.

The government officials said that the physical work on the project might start in October.

A pre-feasibility of the project estimated earnings of three billion Pakistani rupees annually (Dh108 million).