Daily Times

The federal cabinet has approved starting negotiations on the Financial Commitment Agreement between China and Pakistan Railways to upgrade the long-awaited Mainline-1 (ML-1) project – a crucial component of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Friday, instructed that the final agreement on the state-of-the-art railway project be brought back to the cabinet for approval.

The ML-1 is one of the strategic projects between both countries for the development of infrastructure after the federal government approved the annual plan for budget 2024-25 in June to kick-start implementation of the second phase of the CPEC.

Under the plan, the government will focus on bilateral cooperation in diverse sectors including industry, agriculture modernisation, socioeconomic development, scientific collaboration, infrastructure and energy.

The railway project consists of three phases having a total length of 1,726km, once implemented, is expected to considerably improve the logistics performance of the country.

It is the commitment of the Chinese side they will consider providing financing support, including loans with favourable terms, for this strategic project. The financing scheme shall be negotiated and agreed upon by the relevant departments of both sides.

The upgraded ML-1 is designed for 160km/hr on the upgraded track, while its operational speed is set at 120km/h. The existing line capacity of ML-1 will be enhanced from 34 to 120 trains per day, addressing future population growth with a forward-looking approach. Upgraded ML-1 will seamlessly combine speed, reliability and capacity in rail transportation.

The passenger handling capacity of ML-1, at its optimum, will be boosted from the existing 29 million to 170 million, and freight capacity from 8 to 43 million tons.

Realistically speaking, the envisaged upgradation of ML-1 will meet passenger and freight requirements for about 25 to 30 years. There are certain observations of relevant ministries.

The PC-I of ML-1 does not include the scope and cost of the rolling stock and security infrastructure of ML-1, the publication said, adding that another PC-I of around Rs36 billion is under process for the purpose of security.