Report by Engineering Post
Pakistan Railways senior officials have urged the Federal Government to prioritize a mega project for upgradation and rehabilitation of the Main Line (ML-1) from Karachi to Peshawar which was in limbo since 2015 while terming. Punjab Government’s rather ambitious bullet train plan as unaffordable, unrealistic and technically not feasible.
Mega railway project ML-1 was hanging in balance for almost a decade now mainly due to the sharing of its huge cost between China and Pakistan under the overall framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and has been under under discussions at the appropriate levels in Islamabad and Beijing periodically every now and then.
According to the railway officials, the country’s overall railways infrastructure was outdated and required highly steep financial requirements. They opined while claiming anonymity that the planned bullet train between Lahore and Rawalpindi would require the complete overhaul of the existing railways assets including tracks, stations, signalling system, coaches, locomotives/engines and the duly required support system.
Presently, Pakistan railways network across the country cannot support speeds beyond 100 kilometers per hour whereas the bullet trains require dedicated infrastructure and cost anywhere from $ 17 to 40 million per kilometer .
The railways officials emphatically stated that if ML-1 was completed, the country would no longer be even requiring a bullet train at all adding ”
Everything the country needs is the upgrading and rehabilitation of the Main Line from Karachi to Peshawar (ML-1), the emphasis should be on completing the mega railway project with China’s help”.
