Pakistan, China finalise $8.2bn ML-I project: minister

[Kabira]

ISLAMABAD: Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said on Wednesday that Pakistan and China have finalised the Main Line (ML-I) project – a dual railway track that would significantly reduce travel time from Peshawar to Karachi.

During meeting with Chinese Minister for Transport Li Xiaopeng, he said the project would prove to be a milestone and open up new vistas of opportunities and progress for Pakistan, a press release received from Beijing said.

The minister said China’s investment of billions of dollars in Pakistan was a great example of trust between the two countries.

During the meeting, matters of mutual interest came under discussion and ways to improve the system of Pakistan Railways were also discussed at length.


Paying tribute to Prime Minister Imran Khan on taking a keen interest in the ML-I project, Sheikh Rasheed said Chinese government and companies were playing vital role to put Pakistan Railways on the path of progress and prosperity.

“The railway line would be completed under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Framework.”

He said a 1,872-kilometer dual track would be laid between Peshawar to Karachi under ML-I project and the speed of the train would be enhanced to 160km per hour.
https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/10/10/pakistan-china-finalise-8-2bn-ml-i-project-minister/

 

[ziaulislam]

ISLAMABAD: Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said on Wednesday that Pakistan and China have finalised the Main Line (ML-I) project – a dual railway track that would significantly reduce travel time from Peshawar to Karachi.

During meeting with Chinese Minister for Transport Li Xiaopeng, he said the project would prove to be a milestone and open up new vistas of opportunities and progress for Pakistan, a press release received from Beijing said.

The minister said China’s investment of billions of dollars in Pakistan was a great example of trust between the two countries.

During the meeting, matters of mutual interest came under discussion and ways to improve the system of Pakistan Railways were also discussed at length.


Paying tribute to Prime Minister Imran Khan on taking a keen interest in the ML-I project, Sheikh Rasheed said Chinese government and companies were playing vital role to put Pakistan Railways on the path of progress and prosperity.

“The railway line would be completed under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Framework.”

He said a 1,872-kilometer dual track would be laid between Peshawar to Karachi under ML-I project and the speed of the train would be enhanced to 160km per hour.
https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/10/10/pakistan-china-finalise-8-2bn-ml-i-project-minister/

its the most important project but has been under so many ups and downs

i think pakistan though has to be careful, there should be ample ToT and manufacturing movements of railways equipment to make this sustainable

 

[Kabira]

its the most important project but has been under so many ups and downs

i think pakistan though has to be careful, there should be ample ToT and manufacturing movements of railways equipment to make this sustainable

With CPEC authority we should see start of project in coming months. Interesting update, since BOT is no longer an option, Pakistan now want loan on "defence" terms.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: China urged to deal ML-1 project on defence loan terms
By TAHIR AMIN on October 9, 2019
Pakistan wants China to take the $8.2 billion Railways' Main Line project (ML-1), which is declared a strategic project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), on the same loan terms as of defence and other military related projects.


The upgrade project of ML-1 has been declared a strategic commercial project with loan on favourable terms as it presents a perfect business plan covering 75 percent traffic/population and 65 percent industrial areas. With the upgrade of ML-1, train speed will increase from the current 65-105 km to 120-160 km, line capacity from 34 to 171 trains each way per day, freight volumes from 6 to 35 millions tons per annum by 2025, and railway share of freight transport volume would increase from less than 4 percent to 20 percent.

https://www.brecorder.com/2019/10/0...d-to-deal-ml-1-project-on-defence-loan-terms/

 

[ziaulislam]

With CPEC authority we should see start of project in coming months. Interesting update, since BOT is no longer an option, Pakistan now want loan on "defence" terms.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: China urged to deal ML-1 project on defence loan terms
By TAHIR AMIN on October 9, 2019
Pakistan wants China to take the $8.2 billion Railways' Main Line project (ML-1), which is declared a strategic project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), on the same loan terms as of defence and other military related projects.


The upgrade project of ML-1 has been declared a strategic commercial project with loan on favourable terms as it presents a perfect business plan covering 75 percent traffic/population and 65 percent industrial areas. With the upgrade of ML-1, train speed will increase from the current 65-105 km to 120-160 km, line capacity from 34 to 171 trains each way per day, freight volumes from 6 to 35 millions tons per annum by 2025, and railway share of freight transport volume would increase from less than 4 percent to 20 percent.

https://www.brecorder.com/2019/10/0...d-to-deal-ml-1-project-on-defence-loan-terms/

BOT is not an option
but Pakistan should cough up half of the funding and ask the Chinese to hire a local contractor who gets enough experience to build a phase 2 line by themselves..similar engines, bogies etc should be handed over to private sector in pakistan who can make them..

but for this bargaining to happen we first must commit funds....
problem is federation is screwed and doesnt has the money thanks to 18th amendment..it needs 3-4 years for it to become feasible

 

[Ritual]

Why don’t they complete and run Lahore Metro first before embarking on new schemes?

 

[guest9999]

Why don’t they complete and run Lahore Metro first before embarking on new schemes?

Lahore Metro is useless and benefits only one city, ML-1 benefits the entire nation and its struggling industries.

 

[Path-Finder]

Why don’t they complete and run Lahore Metro first before embarking on new schemes?

Metro etc is just limited to one city but ML-1 is massive and hasn't been updated since victorian times. Just see how much ML-1 covers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karachi–Peshawar_Line

 

[Genghis khan1]

They need to increase the speed. It’s 2020 ffs.

 

[Pakhtoon yum]

Pakistan should adapt the Japanese model when it comes to mass train transporttrans. It will do wonders for the economy

 

[Ritual]

Lahore Metro is useless and benefits only one city, ML-1 benefits the entire nation and its struggling industries.

Metro etc is just limited to one city but ML-1 is massive and hasn't been updated since victorian times. Just see how much ML-1 covers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karachi–Peshawar_Line

ML-1 is an excellent initiative, but what I am pointing out is that a responsible govt would complete and run its already existing projects before committing funds to new ones.

Lahore Metro is now months overdue, loans have been signed for and Punjab govt has to pay a daily penalty to the Chinese company because they have not completed by the target date.

 

[Affan-khan]

unfortunately metro route is going through lowest income area of lahore. people are fighting on rs 5 with qinqi wala. how they afford metro.. it should be from thokar to johar town garden town gulberg cant and defence

 

[Haris Ali2140]

They need to increase the speed. It’s 2020 ffs.

Speed is restricted by old tracks.

 

[Path-Finder]

Lahore Metro is now months overdue, loans have been signed for and Punjab govt has to pay a daily penalty to the Chinese company because they have not completed by the target date.

this needs to be renegotiated. that crook made the deal in such a way that it always keeps Pakistan in ruins. same thing with that LNG deal they did! showbaz harami needs a rope around its neck.

 

[FuturePAF]

Do they plan to remove the old track before placing the new track? Would it be wiser to keep both tracks side by side, so that we still retain the capacity provided by the older track. It may be slower but it is our track and we already have the trains to run on them, as well as the other main lines share the same gauge, so we would have to change trains when moving on to main line 1.

 

[Syed1.]

Do they plan to remove the old track before placing the new track? Would it be wiser to keep both tracks side by side, so that we still retain the capacity provided by the older track. It may be slower but it is our track and we already have the trains to run on them, as well as the other main lines share the same gauge, so we would have to change trains when moving on to main line 1.

I think the old track is going to remain, since the new line will take about 5-8 years to complete. Also the existing track is laid in a suboptimal manner since the freaking British did it back in the 1800s with primitive technology and no Pak government ever thought about fixing it. The track often goes through longer routes and around hills etc rather than through them. This new track will be more optimized.