Rawalpindi: An 1,800-kilometre-long dual railway track, titled ML-1, will be constructed to facilitate rail travel within the country, a news source reported. This infrastructure initiative is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
The project, after its completion, will reduce the travelling duration between Rawalpindi and Karachi to 10 hours. It will also cut down the travel time between Lahore and Rawalpindi to just two hours and thirty minutes.
The government, as part of its budget announcement for the (fiscal year) FY2019-20, recently allocated PKR 4 billion for the project’s development.
According to Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed, the initial agreement for the track was signed on February 6, 2007, while the final agreement was signed on April 28, 2019 in Beijing. He referred to the project as a ‘game-changer’.
