ML-1 railways agreement signed

[ghazi52]

Pakistan, China sign ML-1 railways agreement

April 28, 2019

Pakistan and China have also signed the ML-1 Railways agreement under which a double track from Peshawar to Karachi will be laid.

The document was signed by Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang in Beijing today.

In a statement in Beijing, Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said it is a great day in history of Pakistan Railways.

He said that the speed of the train at the new track will be 160 kilometers per hour.

 

[FuturePAF]

Standard Gauge, right?

 

[ghazi52]

CPEC’s investment share for Pakistan Railways was $8.2 billion, which was to be utilised for upgrading Main Line-1 (ML-1) a colonial-era line stretching 1,872 km from Karachi to Peshawar.

Rasheed announced that he is going to start a standard gauge track in between Karachi and Peshawar junctions. The existing track is a broad-gauge track and is due to be rehabilitated and upgraded under the CPEC.

1. The Broad Gauge Track is 5 ft 6 in i.e. 1676 mm

2. The Standard Gauge Track is 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in i.e. 1,435 mm

This means that the Standard Gauge Section of Pakistan Railways will have to be provided with a Brand New Track as well as Locomotives, Passenger Coaches and Railway Wagons as the following Railway Stock will not be able to be used :

PAKISTAN RAILWAYS YEAR BOOK 2017-2017

PLANT & EQUIPMENT Unit.===2016-2017
Route - Kilometres Kms.=====07,791
Track - Kilometres Kms.=====11,881
Locomotives. Nos.=========00,455
Coaching Vehicles No.======01,466
Other Coaching Vehicles No==00,270
Freight Wagons===========16.086

As such Pakistan - having such a large number of Locomotives, Carriages and Wagons will have to buy a Full New Rail Stock for the Standard Gauge Section of its Railways.

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