KARACHI: The Asian Development Bank has offered $1 billion to revive the Karachi Circular Railway, giving the decade-old project its most credible financing lifeline yet after repeated failures under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor left it going nowhere.
An ADB senior delegation met Sindh Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah and announced that the bank would finance the Karachi Circular Railway revival project. The ADB plans to provide $1 billion in total funding, including an initial $10 million for planning, design review and other preparatory work.
This engagement signals a major departure from the Sindh government’s previous strategy. The chief minister of Sindh province, Syed Murad Ali Shah, had initially sought assistance from ADB back in February, when the CPEC route funding remained stuck for almost ten years.
Why Karachi Circular Railway Matters for Karachi
The inclusion of KCR into CPEC happened back in December 2016 in Sindh. ECNEC approved it in 2017 at an estimated cost of Rs207.5 billion. It had a target completion period of three years which is already long gone. In addition, the PTI-led government scrapped out the Chinese financing scheme and adopted the build, operate, and transfer system through PPPs only for the PDM government to cancel it and revert to CPEC again. This also remained fruitless. An upcoming visit to China by the Chief Minister of Sindh in September 2024 seeking financial and technical assistance never saw the light of day.
Also Read: Karachi Circular Railway Revival: Sindh and Centre Finally Seal the Deal After 30 Years
ADB’s Tuesday commitment cuts through that cycle of announcements and reversals with actual dollars on the table. Chief Secretary Shah told the delegation that KCR remains the province’s top transport priority.
It will help reduce the burden on the roads of Karachi besides providing cheap transport to millions of people every day,” he added. He asked the concerned departments to submit all necessary papers promptly while remaining in close contact with the ADB.
The agenda of the talks held on Tuesday was not limited to KCR only. The two sides talked about the development of an integrated system of transportation in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, and Larkana based on decongestion of traffic, green transport, and future transport policies for the province.
A Project Trapped in Political Limbo — Until Now
Karachi Circular Railway, built initially in 1964 and subsequently shut down in 1999 because of low passenger traffic, is a railway network stretching to 43.2 kilometers, having 24 stations. The scheme involves employing this railway network for transporting 515,000 to 650,000 people each day.
ADB Deputy Country Director Hussain Haider headed the team from the bank, accompanied by Mr. Wonbae Seo, Mr. Hamid Khan, Mr. Umer Shafiq, and Mr. Muhammad Sadiq. Planning and Development Board Chairman Najm Shah and Transport Secretary Asad Zamin attended from the provincial side.
The $10 million preparatory phase now sets the clock. How fast Sindh’s departments move on documentation and coordination with ADB will determine whether this latest commitment becomes the breakthrough Karachi’s commuters have waited 25 years for or another entry in a long list of promises that went nowhere.
