The up-gradation and dualisation of Pakistan railway’s main line track (ML1) from Karachi to Torkham at a cost of US$ 8 billion would support fast trains in the country.
Pakistan and China had agreed to upgrade main line (ML1) to be completed in next five years, would help provide an infrastructure to run fast moving trains in future, a senior official in the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms said on Wednesday.
Out of $8 billion, US$ 5.5 billion would be a concessional loan from China while Asian Development Bank (ADB) would contribute remaining US$ 2.5 billion for the project.
He said “ML1 is used for 75 percent traffic but infrastructure and equipment on this line has not been improved since long which has resulted in decrease of railway speed from 120 to 60 KM per hour.”
He said Quetta-Peshawar and Havilian-Khunjrab would be linked through railway in the next phase to be started after this up-gradation.
During a recent meeting between Pakistani and Chinese officials held in Beijing, both sides expressed satisfaction over cooperation in railways projects including the ML1 (Karachi-Peshawar) railway project.
Both sides agreed that the railway network project formed the backbone of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) communications infrastructure projects.
Both countries also shared the vision for developing effective railway system from Kashghar to Gwadar which would provide a cost competitive mode of transportation and instant connectivity to China for transportation of goods.
The official said, railways transportation was a critical element of connectivity between Pakistan and China and implementation of railways projects would have a tremendous impact on socio-economic development of the region.
