PM Shehbaz, ADB vice-president discuss early groundbreaking of ML-1

The Express Tribune reported that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pressed for an early groundbreaking on the Main Line-1 (ML-1) railway project during a breakfast meeting with Asian Development Bank Vice President Yingming Yang in Islamabad on Friday. According to the Prime Minister's Office, he called the Karachi-to-Peshawar route important for freight upgrades and wider regional trade. The discussion also reviewed the long-running partnership with the bank and priorities under its 2026 to 2030 country strategy.

Shehbaz also credited the bank with dependable work on city infrastructure, transport and civic services. He argued that fiscal, structural and governance reforms had restored macroeconomic stability and strengthened investor confidence, while credit agencies including Fitch, Moody's and S&P had issued stable outlook upgrades. Other areas discussed included private sector support, energy and food security, export competitiveness, and artificial intelligence and information technology.

Earlier on Thursday, Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Cheema told the ADB that ML-1 was a flagship project and a key priority, and the bank agreed to help set up a joint working group on Pakistan Railways reforms. The planned 1,733-kilometre upgrade, valued at roughly $2.5 billion, had been held back for years by funding limits and bureaucratic delays. The first phase, an elevated 480km section between Karachi and Rohri, is estimated at around Rs450 billion.