LAHORE: Pakistan Railways and the National Logistics Corporation (NLC) have agreed to work together to upgrade Main Line-2 (ML-2) into a dedicated freight corridor. The project aims to speed up the transport of goods to different cities across the country.
Federal Minister for Railways Hanif Abbasi said the project would cost about $2 billion. He said PR and NLC held a meeting on Thursday and decided to start work on the freight corridor from Kotri to Attock.
An international consultant will be hired to conduct a feasibility study and other early work before construction begins. The minister said NLC will arrange the $2bn funding on its own through banks or other funding agencies.
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ML-2 is a key railway route of about 1,250 kilometres. It has more than 90 operational stations from Kotri to Attock, including many stations in interior Sindh. Major stations on the route include Kotri, Sehwan Sharif, Dadu, Mohenjodaro, Larkana, Jacobabad, Kandkot, DG Khan, Bhakkar, Mianwali, Jand and Attock City.
Mr Abbasi said the ML-2 upgrade will include a separate track for freight trains along with modern facilities to improve cargo movement.
Talking about other projects, he said Pakistan Railways is working to start the groundbreaking of Phase-1 of the ML-1 project (Karachi-Rohri) in July this year.
Phase-1 covers 480 kilometres. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to finance this phase, while funding for later phases is being arranged with other international lenders.
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He also said work on the ML-3 project (Rohri-Taftan via Sibi and Quetta) is expected to begin in April. This route, which is over 1,000 kilometres long, is important for international freight, especially trade from Pakistan to Turkiye through Iran.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Railways Chief Executive Officer Amir Ali Baloch said ADB teams have visited the ML-1 Phase-1 sites three times. He said talks with the bank are complete and authorities are hopeful that work will begin in July.
The total cost of the ML-1 project is $6.7 billion, and it will be carried out in phases, starting with the Karachi-Rohri section.
