Govt seeks funds for ML-1 upgrade

Ahsan Iqbal, the federal minister for planning, used a visit to Mongolia to call the ML-1 railway upgrade essential for trade, freight and regional connectivity, The Express Tribune reported. He said the 1,726-kilometre line between Karachi and Peshawar carries 76% of passenger traffic and 98% of freight despite major infrastructure constraints. He described the corridor as a national economic priority rather than just a railway project.

Planned works would lift capacity to 120 train pairs from 34, raise passenger speeds to 160 km per hour and freight speeds from 30 to 80 km/h. Travel between Karachi and Rohri would drop from eight hours to about four and a half hours, while freight demand is forecast to hit roughly 21 million tonnes a year by 2035. The $2.5 billion Karachi-Rohri section is the most advanced part, with the Asian Development Bank leading financing and AIIB, the World Bank, IsDB and EIB as co-financiers.

Iqbal said the Karachi-Rohri project has moved beyond the concept phase, with readiness financing in place and engineering work under way. Pakistan plans to treat that section as the first step toward modernising the full Karachi-Peshawar route, and is working on financing for the Rohri-Peshawar stretch. He added that the immediate task is turning existing progress into implementation while raising funds for the rest of the corridor.