The Asian Development Bank and World Bank, have expressed interest in financing Pakistan’s 1,800 kilometer Karachi Peshawar Main Line 1 railway project, which has a revised estimated cost of up to $6.8 billion.
The Economic Affairs Division briefed the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Economic Affairs on the project. The committee was informed that the Asian Development Bank was being considered as the lead financing institution, while the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and World Bank had made co financing commitments.
The European Investment Bank, Islamic Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency have also expressed interest in the project.
The committee was told that ML-1 covers more than the rehabilitation and upgrading of railway infrastructure. It also includes institutional and operational reforms aimed at improving the efficiency, sustainability and service delivery of Pakistan Railways. The project design was reassessed to identify gaps and incorporate necessary improvements.
Following the reassessment, the estimated cost of ML-1 was revised to around $6.68 billion to $6.80 billion, down from the earlier estimate of about $9 billion.
The infrastructure is being designed to accommodate train speeds of up to 160 kilometers per hour, while the currently envisaged operational speed is up to 120 kilometers per hour. The construction period is targeted at about three years.
The committee raised concerns about the proposed operational speed and stressed that modern railway technologies and international standards should be fully utilized. It called for infrastructure and operational parameters to support speeds of up to 160 kilometers per hour where technically and economically feasible.
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