ML-1 railroad

A delayed start is better than no start. The decision to kickstart the 1,733-km-long Karachi-Peshawar Main Line-1 (ML-1) project – by commencing procedural activities for an elevated 480-km railway track from Karachi to Rohri in its first phase – is a welcome development. The $2.5 billion project had been in limbo for a long time, infected with bureaucratic lethargy as well as a lack of funding owing to an unconducive local and international environment. The good point, however, is that spade work has been done, and proactive ministerial brainstorming to make it viable is at a promising pace. Soliciting funds and involving professional engineering consortiums remain major challenges, and it is hoped that the initiative will see the light of day.

The first phase of ML-1 is estimated to cost Rs450 billion and is likely to be financed by Chinese banks, apart from other global lenders, further solidifying the CPEC transnational connectivity dream into a reality. The execution of the project faced a litmus test as the Planning Commission took stock of ground realities and reprimanded actors who were not up to the mark. That is good introspection and a departure from the culture of signing off as 'all is good'. The need of the hour is to meet the timeline and ensure that work resumes on the first calendar day of 2027. Upgrading and doubling the railway corridor from Karachi through Lahore and Rawalpindi to Peshawar, alongside the Taxila-Havelian track, is indispensable, given the dilapidation of the British-laid track. It is hoped that carriages will be able to move at a speed of 160 km per hour, compared to 80 km/h at the moment.

The ML-1 project is not only about modernising the railway and logistics network, but is also directly related to national security. With the population bulge surpassing 250 million and GDP growth likely to remain over 4% in the next few years, an economically feasible railway is in high demand. It goes without saying that the revamping of Pakistan Railways across its length and breadth will come as a shot in the arm for connecting it with a plethora of regional railroad projects that are evolving as part of wider geo-economic connectivity.