In 2025, the Pakistani economy will gradually stabilize under the IMF bailout program, and the GDP growth rate will rebound to 2.4% in the 2024/25 fiscal year, with infrastructure investment becoming the core engine driving growth. Recently, the Pakistani Ministry of Railways submitted a detailed plan for the ML-1 railway upgrade project to the National Assembly, with a total investment of approximately 6.66 billion US dollars, to be implemented in five stages. The first phase of the project will start later this year. After years of planning and financing coordination, this largest national railway project in Pakistan has finally reached a milestone of substantial progress.

Reshaping 1726 kilometers of railway mainline in five stages

The ML-1 project will comprehensively modernize the 1726 kilometer railway mainline connecting Karachi and Peshawar. Five stages of investment and construction period are clear: the first stage is the 480 kilometer Karachi Roheri section, with an investment of 2 billion US dollars, which will start construction later this year and have a construction period of three years; The second phase of the Roheri Multan section is 449 kilometers long, with an investment of 1.26 billion US dollars and a construction period of three years; The third phase of the Multan Lahore section is 334 kilometers long, with an investment of 880 million US dollars and a construction period of two years; The fourth phase of the Lahore Rawalpin section is 289 kilometers long, with an investment of 1.56 billion US dollars and a construction period of three years; The fifth phase of the Rawalpindi Peshawar section is 174 kilometers long, with an investment of 920 million US dollars and a construction period of about two years.

Breaking through the bottleneck of national transportation in one fell swoop

The current average operating speed of Pakistan's railway network is less than 80 kilometers per hour, with an average daily passenger volume of over 3 million people nationwide. The severe shortage of freight capacity has become a prominent shortcoming restricting economic development. After the completion of the ML-1 project, the train operation speed will be significantly improved, and the passenger and freight capacity will be comprehensively enhanced. It is expected to compress the travel time from Karachi to Peshawar from the current 22 hours to less than 10 hours, completely rewriting the national transportation pattern.

The Next Billion Dollar Market for Chinese Rail Transit Enterprises

As the project progresses, a large number of international cooperation opportunities will be released in the fields of railway engineering construction, signal systems, locomotives and rolling stock. The cumulative investment in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor has exceeded 70 billion US dollars, and Chinese rail transit companies have deeply participated in multiple projects such as the Lahore Orange Line in Pakistan. The upgrade of ML-1 railway will undoubtedly open up new billion dollar market space for Chinese enterprises. Keywords: railway construction, Pakistan railway network

Pakistan has a population of over 240 million, and railways are its transportation lifeline. The ML-1 project is not only an infrastructure project, but also a strategic layout related to national development. The first phase of the project is about to break ground, and Chinese rail transit companies are standing at the forefront of a new round of overseas expansion.Editor/Cheng Liting