KARACHI, Dec 20: A joint summary on the revival of the Karachi Circular Railway operation will be sent to the federal government to seek Rs5 billion funds.
This was stated by federal minister for railways Ghous Bux Mehar at a press conference here on Saturday at the divisional superintendent’s office. He said that Rs5 billion were needed to revive the operation of the KCR on the existing infrastructure, which also needed to be improved.
Mr Mehar said that dualization of the railway tracks, construction of railway stations, building of the underpasses and level crossing, besides the rolling stock and equipment would be needed for the operation of the KCR.
He said a Chinese firm had conducted a survey and sent an assessment report, and a feasibility report by the same firm was being considered.
He further said the operator would be selected later to run the KCR trains with a frequency of every 10 minutes, and after making the KCR operational at the existing infrastructure, its extension project would be initiated.
The minister asked the provincial and the city governments to clear the operational area of the KCR tracks from all sorts of encroachments. A committee was constituted to conduct a survey of the tracks and submit its proposals.
About the Pakistan railways performance, Mr Mehar said the railways had suffered losses in freight train operation. Quoting the comparative figures of the year 2002 with the current ones, he said the PR had earned Rs6227 million in the year 2002 as compared to the Rs6964 million in the year 2003 in passenger trains operations. However, a loss of Rs436 million in goods train operations and Rs29 million in other coaching including parcel and scrape transportations, had been suffered in the year 2003 as compared with the previous year.
He said the railways earned an overall Rs270 million profit which was not sufficient if the railways department had to pay an instalment of overdraft to the State Bank of Pakistan.
He said the railways had inherited a Rs20 billion overdraft which had been reduced to Rs17.8 billion. “If a meagre amount of profit is given to pay off the overdraft, the railways affairs cannot be run”. He asked the government to grant a relief, make the railways a corporate body and convert the overdraft into equity.