News Desk
Federal Minister for Railways Hanif Abbasi on Thursday said the government planned to upgrade the 480-kilometre Karachi-Rohri railway track at an estimated cost of $2.5 billion, with the groundbreaking expected in January or February next year. Responding to questions during the question hour in the National Assembly, the minister said the project would be undertaken with the cooperation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as part of the government’s efforts to improve railway infrastructure and enhance passenger safety. He said the existing railway track had been in use for more than a century, with much of the infrastructure dating back to 1910, making its upgradation essential to address longstanding operational challenges. Hanif Abbasi said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had taken the initiative to prioritise the rehabilitation of the Karachi-Rohri section, describing it as one of the most critical portions of the 1,800-kilometre Main Line-I (ML-1) network. He expressed confidence that the proposed improvements would help reduce railway accidents and improve the safety and efficiency of train operations. Responding to another supplementary question, the minister said discussions were also under way to upgrade the Rohri-Multan section, adding that the prime minister had taken the initiative to move forward with the project alongside the Karachi-Rohri section. Regarding people displaced by railway projects, he said he did not have the exact information available at the time but could provide details if the matter was raised again. In response to questions about the revival of railway services in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Hanif Abbasi said Pakistan Railways had signed a framework agreement with the provincial government to work jointly on restoring railway operations. He said similar cooperation was being pursued with other provincial governments, adding that an agreement had already been reached with Balochistan, while engagement with Punjab and Sindh was also planned. The minister said Pakistan Railways had initiated action against encroachments on its land across the country, including in Bannu, Peshawar, Sukkur, Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi. He described the recovery and transfer of nearly 200,000 kanals of railway land back into the department’s name through mutation as a significant achievement, saying such a large-scale recovery had not occurred in the institution’s 78-year history. He added that the department would continue efforts to retrieve railway land held by public and private entities across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan.