08 March 2005	Tuesday	26 Muharram 1426

KARACHI, March 7: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will on Tuesday formally inaugurate the additional train service between City Station and Landhi by increasing the number of local trains from the existing three to five.

Announcing this at a news conference here on Monday, Railway Minister Mian Shamim Haider said: "We have raised the number of trains from three up and three down to five up and five down, which would shuttle between the two points."

Insisting that the operation of the additional local service be regarded as revival of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR), the minister argued that the route of the local train was part of the KCR and the service would soon be extended to the actual KCR loop.

When asked how the railway authority could inaugurate an already operative local train service, the minister failed to explain the local train route as a part of the KCR. However, he claimed that the actual KCR loop would be operative in the next 10 months.

Replying to a question whether the work on the actual KCR loop had been started, Mr Shamim said that the proposal had been sent to the federal government for approval. He could not give a time frame for the approval of the plan.

About funding for the KCR, he said that an authority comprising officials from the federal, Sindh and city (Karachi) governments would be established for the purpose. He said the process of establishing the authority was under way. He, however, was not able to give a time frame for the setting up of the body.

"Soon after the approval and release of funds, the KCR project would be operative in 10 months", the puzzled minister asserted. Responding to another question, he said that Rs6 billion would be needed for carrying out improvement work on the existing KCR loop.

Contrary to the claim by the railway minister that 10 months would be required for the KCR to operate on its actual loop, the sources said, the Sindh government had assured the KCR implementation committee, formed on the directive of the prime minister, that the KCR service would be extended to Nazimabad in the second phase and the entire loop would be made operative in two years subject to the availability of the required funds.

KHOKHRAPAR-MONABAO LINK: The railway minister said that Rs1.5 billion would be needed for the revival of the track from Mirpurkhas to Khokhrapar. The 35-km-long track would be upgraded from meter gauge to broad gauge. "We have sent the proposal for approval and as soon as the required funds are released, we will start work on it," he added.

CHINESE ENGINES: About the engines which had been imported from China and had developed cracks in their frames, the minister said that nine of the engines had developed such cracks and the Chinese company had been asked to replace them with the new ones.

"They have assured us that the engines would be replaced and warranty period would be extended. If the deal is not done, we will consider terminating the agreement," he added.