Revival of KCR must to clear transport mess in City

KARACHI  - It is human nature and bureaucratic hallmark to expect very difficult, intricate and complicated solutions to big problems. Sometimes even magical solutions to very complex problems are outright rejected only due to their simplicity and plainness. The revival of the Karachi Circular Railway (KRC) could be considered as a textbook example of this flawed mentality in our country.

In every modern metropolitan in the world, there is no concept of a viable urban public transport system without a rail-based public transport: surface or underground. Nowhere in the world, urban planners risk solely relying on the road-based public transport, due to its high costs and low efficiency. The rail-based public transport mode is universally considered commuter-friendly, cost-effective, timesaving, reliable and hassle-free. These are not new discoveries, but these very factors were in mind of our urban planners when they approved the Karachi Circular Railway project some half-decade back in 1960s.

The KCR had been a success story during its early years, as it was a profit-making venture of the Pakistan Railways. However, some powerful lobbies representing vested interests systematically doomed this efficient and successful rail-based urban public transport system in later years. As the icing on the cake, the state-run Karachi Public Transport Corporation (KTC) was also closed down under mysterious circumstances to ensure a complete monopoly of private road-based transporters.

Abrupt ending of both KCR and KTC resulted in losses of billions of rupees to Pakistani taxpayers due to cruel wastage of precious assets, machinery and equipment. Sadly, costly loans were obtained to buy buses for the KTC from foreign companies, and costlier loans were also obtained from the foreign institutions, especially the World Bank, to liquidate the KTC.

The doom of the KTC and closer of KCR is considered as the biggest conspiracy against the Karachi commuters, as these acts paved way for monopolisation of private road-based public transporters. Resultantly, the Karachi commuters braved unprecedented steep rises in fare after regular intervals.