History
The Karachi Circular Railway began operation in 1969 through Pakistan Railways with the aim of providing better transportation facilities to Karachi and the surrounding suburbs. The original KCR line extended from Drigh Road Station and ended at Karachi City Station carrying 6 million passengers annually.
The KCR was in instant success and made a significant profit in its first year of operation. During the 1970s and 1980s the KCR was at its peak with 104 daily trains, of which 80 trains ran on the main track while the remaining 24 ran on the loop line. During the 1990s, the "transport mafia" contracted KCR staff who became indulged in corruption. By 1994 the KCR was in incurring major losses and as a result the vast majority of trains were discontinued with only a few running on the Loop. In 1999 KCR operations were discontinued.
The result was instant gridlock on Karachi streets. In 2005, revival plans for the railway were initiated to fulfil the growing transportation needs of Karachi. The City District Government Karachi was already making plans for a revival and construction of a combined "Karachi Metro".
Read more about this topic: Karachi Circular Railway
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.”
—Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929)
“Regarding History as the slaughter-bench at which the happiness of peoples, the wisdom of States, and the virtue of individuals have been victimized—the question involuntarily arises—to what principle, to what final aim these enormous sacrifices have been offered.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“Most events recorded in history are more remarkable than important, like eclipses of the sun and moon, by which all are attracted, but whose effects no one takes the trouble to calculate.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)