Is KCR project back on track or heading towards another derailment?

The Karachi Circular Railway (KCR), since its discontinuation, has ping-ponged between the federal and Sindh governments, and so it has not been revived to date.

The KCR project comprises a 29.41-kilometre-long two-way loop, along with the provision of a 13.69km-long two-way dedicated track along the Pakistan Railways’ mainline, which stretches from the City

Station to the Drigh Road Station.

Until May 2019, the provincial government had taken on the mantle to revive the KCR, as back then it was supposed to be restored under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

For this purpose the Sindh Mass Transit Authority had already developed the project’s PC-1 and had carried out its feasibility study. Projects involving international tenders and huge costs require the federal finance ministry’s sovereign guarantee, but the then ministry did not issue it for the KCR.

Since the circular railway is no more a part of the CPEC, the federal government has decided to pursue the abandoned project itself, while the provincial government seems to be okay with it. This new development has given new hope for the KCR’s revival.

The Centre has hired EY Ford Rhodes as their financial consultants, EA Consulting and AI Engineers as their technical consultants, and Exponent Engineers as their traffic consultants, who will also look after the project’s commercial aspects, while Haidermota & Co. will be their legal consultants.

Pakistan Railways Assistant Engineer Ghulam Qadir told The News that the project’s cost is Rs207 billion, of which Rs96 billion is the infrastructure cost. The remaining Rs111 billion is the electric and maintenance cost, which also includes locomotives, AC coaches, signalling, telecommunication and intelligent transportation system.

He said that as of now the Government of Pakistan will have the Rs96 billion infrastructure component so that the project can be made viable for any private operator, whose job will be to bring in Rs111 billion and operate the KCR under public-private partnership (PPP).

With Rs20 billion, underpasses and flyovers will be constructed to clear 22 level crossings of the circular railway project in a passage of three years.

Of this Rs20 billion, according to Sindh Transport Secretary Sharik Ahmed, the provincial government’s contribution is Rs6 billion. The contract for the underpasses and flyovers has already been awarded to the Frontier Works Operations (FWO) on the directions of the Supreme Court.

Ahmed explained that the provincial government had released Rs25 million to the FWO for a detailed study of the KCR track, which found 34 level crossings. However, the study pointed out that 11 of those level crossings were illegal, as they had never been designated by the Pakistan Railways.

According to recent updates, said Qadir, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved the Rs20 billion package on September 24, and after the vetting process of the FWO’s design, construction is expected to start after a month.

He explained that the circular railway has a loop section of 29km from Drigh Road that crosses under the Natha Khan Flyover towards Gulistan-e-Jauhar and all the way to the City Station. From the City Station towards Drigh Road the KCR track is 15km.

He said that if the KCR is run with the existing infrastructure, it will waste money, as one of the reasons of its failure back in 1999 was its level crossings, where it had to stop for the road traffic almost 22 times.

The project will have 25 electric trains, which will also be brought in by the private operator. Each train will have the capacity to carry 814 passengers at a time, while the circular railway is expected to facilitate 475,000 passengers a day.

The trains will run with a five-minute gap at a speed to 80km an hour. A contract is being finalised with K-Electric for the charging of the electric trains.

KUTC’s fate

The Karachi Urban Transport Corporation (KUTC), which is a regulatory authority for the implementation of the KCR project, was registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan as a public limited company in 2008.

The Pakistan Railways has a 60 per cent share in the corporation, while the Sindh government and the city government have a 25 per cent and 15 per cent share respectively.

According to the railways official, nothing has yet been finalised about the fate of the KUTC. He, however, pointed out that there is a possibility that a new company with zero liability is formed for the private operator of the KCR’s operations.

He said that the requests for proposal for the project will be issued once the PPP Authority approves the project as a public-private partnership endeavour, expectedly by the end of October.

Interconnectivity

The KCR will also have an inter-mobility aspect: at Rashid Minhas Road, it will have a station near the Brown Line bus rapid transit (BRT); at University Road, near the Red

Line BRT; at Shahrah-e-Pakistan, near the Blue Line BRT; and at Sher Shah Suri Road, near the Green Line and Orange Line BRT.

It will also have a station near the Purple Line BRT near Sher Shah and near the Yellow Line BRT at Korangi Road. The Pakistan Railway official explained that passengers can shift from any BRT line to the KCR line in a single fare through their automated card.

The loop’s route

As for the route of the KCR, the official explained that there will be a few underpasses and flyovers at level crossings for the road traffic, while at a few level crossings, the underpass and flyover will be for the KCR.

After the Drigh Road station, the KCR will turn left under the Natha Khan Flyover towards COD (Central Ordnance Depot) on ground, reaching Gulistan-e-Jauhar, crossing Hafeez Jalandhari Road.

There is already a bridge at the road under which the KCR track will be revived. Here the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board has already laid a new sewerage line so that the KCR track can be revived.

From this point on, the circular railway will run towards Aladin and then cross on ground under the Nipa Flyover towards University Road. Near the Sir Syed University, an underpass for the KCR track will be constructed.

Beyond this point there will be two underpass-cum-culverts for mixed traffic at 13D-1 and 13D-3 of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, one of which will be at Sehba Akhtar Road for the road traffic, while the KCR will remain at grade.

At 13D-3, there is an existing culvert for road traffic that, according to the railway official, will be widened to provide road traffic access to Sir Shah Sulaiman Road and the Furniture Market. The KCR will also cross the Lyari Expressway, as its space already exists in the design of the expressway.

Then there will be an elevated KCR section at Sharifabad near Hussainabad, after which the circular railway will come at grade, and Shahrah-e-Pakistan will be crossed at grade under the Liaquatabad Flyover.

From Moosa Colony there will be a 3.5km elevated KCR loop that will cross the Ziauddin Hospital, Gujjar Nullah, the Green Line BRT alignment at Sher Shah Suri Road, moving towards the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, and after Orangi Nullah it will come at grade again before running below the existing Manghopir Flyover.

The official said they required 15 metres of width for the construction of the elevated section, while they have an ample 30m of width at this elevated loop.

From the SITE Area the KCR loop will again go elevated for about 6.5km. It will cross Manghopir, Mauripur and Gulbai Chowk. This elevated loop will also cross the Sher Shah Flyover at level two, and before the Baldia Station it will be at grade again.

After this point a bridge along Ahmed Shah Bukhari Road will be constructed for mixed traffic, while the KCR will remain at grade. The Wazir Mansion Station also lies here, where a depot for the circular railway has also been proposed.

At this point the circular railway will also go under the ICI Bridge. At West Wharf Road the KCR will again go elevated, then it will go at grade under the Jinnah Bridge and run towards the City Station.

Tentative ML-1 design

From the City Station all the way till Drigh Road, the Pakistan Railways is already supposed to construct the Main Line-1, which will be of a broad gauge (1.6m), while the circular railway’s track is of standard gauge (1.435m).

For this reason, a separate track will have to be constructed at this point for the KCR, which, however, is not included in the Rs20 billion package.

Back in 2019, when the provincial government had its design prepared by Nespak (National Engineering Services Pakistan), the KCR was to go elevated at the Karachi City Station until DCOS, which is behind the Pearl-Continental Hotel.

After the DCOS towards the Cantt Station, the KCR was to again go elevated, and at the Clifton Bridge it was at further height, according to the map, as there was a third tier of the bridge for the KCR according to the plan.

After that, at the Carry Road Bridge it remained elevated.

Then at the Cantt Station and the Naval Station, it moved elevated along the ML-1’s alignment. However, it was to remain at grade at the Chanesar Station, Shaheed-e-Millat Station and Karsaz Station.

At the Shaheed-e-Millat Station it was to be under the Baloch Colony Flyover. It was to cross the Pakistan Air Force Flyover on Sharea Faisal at grade and go towards the Drigh Road crossing.

It is expected that the federal government will also follow this design at the ML-1 route and use its remaining Rs96 billion.