Karachi Mass Transit
in Separate Right of Ways
Karachi already has rail mass transit services in the form of the Pakistan Railways Mainline, Malir Branch and Karachi Circular Railway local suburban services. The number of passengers carried appears even smaller in the context of Karachi's total public transport travel; the suburban services carry less than half of one percent of all public transportation trips.
KMTS has developed possible improvements for the main line, Malir Branch and Karachi Circular Railway. These examine the extent to which moderate rail improvement investments would enable the rail services to gain a significant share in passengers carried and function as an integrated part of the public transportation network.
In addition, KMTS examined existing travel patterns in Karachi in order to find where travel volumes are greatest and where service deficiencies are most severe. In those locations, KMTS searched for rights of ways in which separate mass transit alignments or transit ways might be provided.
There are many several technologies available for use on transit ways; the choice among them depends on functional, cost and environmental factors. One of the main functional factors is capacity. The selected technology should have adequate capacity to justify the time and expense involved. The capacity of each technology may vary within a wide range.
Each technology has unique characteristics relating to services, cost, physical constraints and environmental effects, all of which influence the choice among them.