Islamabad: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday set the completion timeframe for the Railways Mainline-1 (ML-1) project and directed the federal government to revive and upgrade the ML-1’s Karachi-Lahore-Peshawar track within two years, a news source reported. As per the publication, the SC also ordered the completion of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) within three months.
Chief Justice (CJ) Gulzar Ahmed headed a three-member bench of the SC, comprising of Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and resumed hearing of a case pertaining to the large financial deficits of the Pakistan Railways. During the hearing, Minister for Planning Asad Umar informed the court that the PC-1 of ML-1 will be submitted by the end of February.
Previously, the Minister for Railways had informed the court that the project would be completed within five years. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) website says that the project aims to double the size of the track between Karachi and Lahore, amplify the speed of passenger trains from 65/110 kilometre per hour to 160 kilometres per hour, and upgrade the signalling and control system for security purposes.
