To modernize the Pakistan Railway system under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Main Line-1 (ML-1) project is in final negotiation. This project will help in the upgradation and dualization of 1,733 km of railway track from Peshawar to Karachi.
To mark the 10-year celebrations of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the upcoming 12th Joint Cooperation Committee JCC, a curtain-raiser event was held on Thursday at the Planning Ministry.
The event was attended by Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Secretary Planning Commission Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Chief Economic of Pakistan, who is also Executive Director of the CPEC, Dr. Nadeem Javaid, Chinese Charge d’ Affairs to Pakistan Pang Chunxue, Chinese state-owned enterprises, and representatives from various ministries.
The CPEC enters a significant milestone as it celebrates a decade of remarkable achievements in fostering economic growth, infrastructure development, and regional connectivity. Under the 10-year celebrations, several events are being conducted by the CPEC Secretariat in collaboration with the Planning Ministry which includes international Conferences, academic sessions, cultural shows, and others across the country.
Speaking at the occasion, the planning minster said that this year marks the successful decade of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) & its flagship CPEC project.
The minister said that when China launched its transcontinental enterprise BRI, it chose Pakistan for its flagship project named CPEC. Over the decade, the two countries have developed strong bonds in diverse fields and call themselves “iron brothers’,” said the minister.
Charge de’ Affair Pang Chunxue emphasized in her speech that the China-Pakistan relationship has profound historical roots, solid public support, and strong practical needs. Under the strong leadership of President Xi Jinping, China is steadfastly advancing the process of Chinese modernization. China will provide new opportunities for the development of countries including Pakistan, with new accomplishments in Chinese modernization, she remarked, remarked Pang.
According to the statistics, approximately 200,000 direct jobs have been created in the first phase of CPEC development for locals including engineers. To modernize the Pakistan Railway system under CPEC, the Main Line-1 (ML-1) project is in final negotiation. This project will help in the upgradation and dualization of 1733 km of railway track from Peshawar to Karachi.
CPEC is also playing a significant role in enriching people-to-people connectivity. Before Covid-19, approx. 28,000 Pakistani students were studying in China in various disciplines, which shows a strong lobby of goodwill Ambassadors. Studying and training in China is an important opportunity for future researchers to gain firsthand knowledge of Chinese culture, business models, and practices. Moreover, China is also extending a large number of scholarships besides training programs.
ML1 is a shame for us. our trains are already running at the speed of 105 km/hour. There’s no benefit of upgrading it to 160 km/hour at the most. this should be updated to 240 km/hour capacity to cut down the travel time from 20 hours lahore-karachi to under 6 hours. Isb-Karachi under 8 hours and peshawar-karachi under 10 hours.
hy pesh -khi 10 hours it should be 8.30 hrs
if isb -khi is 8 hrs then isb-pesh must be less then 30min