Government defers upgradation of multi-billion dollar ML-1 railway line

ISLAMABAD: The government has deferred the approval of a much-awaited up-gradation of Mainline-1 railway from Peshawar to Karachi and the construction of Havelian Dry Port with an estimated cost of $9 billion, reported The News on Wednesday.

According to The News, the multi-billion project is proposed to seek a loan of $8.255 billion from China under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) while the Pakistani side will finance $917.23 million through the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP).

The ML-1 project was deferred on Wednesday during a meeting of the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) held under Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Mohammad Jenhanzeb Khan in the chair.

The Planning Commission, as well as other ministries, raised objections on various aspects of the financing of this project and asked the Ministry of Railways to remove loopholes in the PC-1 in the next meeting. 

The PC-1 submitted by the Railways Ministry for proposed execution of ML-1 in three phases states that the project is to be completed in three packages over nine years period from January 2021 to December 2029. Under the first package from January 2021 to December 2024, six tasks will be completed.

The ML-1 starts from Karachi, passes through Kotri-Hyderabad, Rohri, Multan, Lahore, Rawalpindi and terminates at Peshawar. The line is 1,872 km long, including the 55 km long Taxila - Havelian section and 91 km long Lodhran-Khanewal section.

The project envisages up-gradation of ML-1, establishment of a dry port near Havelian Railway Station, up-gradation of Pakistan Railway Academy Walton in Lahore; passenger facilities, development of important railway stations, including those at Karachi, Hyderabad and Rohri in Sindh, besides Multan, Lahore and Rawalpindi in Punjab. 

Similarly, railway stations at Nowshehra and Peshawar would be upgraded in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province under the project. The up-gradation of ML-I will be carried out as the speed of passenger trains would increase from 110 km/h to 160 km/h, speed of the freight trains will also increase to 120km/h.

The new track would have a 25-ton axle load against the existing 22.86 permissible axle load. Also, the line capacity will increase from 34 to 171 trains per day and the trail load on the freight trains would increase from 2,400 to 3,400 tons. The track would be used both for passengers and freight trains.

The addition of 814 km new track would result in doubling the entire track from Karachi to Peshawar. Besides, the existing 2,655 km track will be upgraded. Also, the grade separation would ensure the safety of train operations and result in the elimination of manned and unmanned level crossings and fencing for track isolation.

According to an official announcement, the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) approved three projects worth Rs. 1.04 billion and recommended one position paper worth Rs20 billion to ECNEC for consideration.

Secretary Planning Zafar Hasan, senior officials from federal governments also participated in the meeting while representatives from provincial governments participated through video conference. Three projects related to transport and communications were presented in the meeting.

Originally published in The News