Islamabad: Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on Thursday stated that up to 90% of the Main Line-I (ML-I) project’s workforce would consist of local hires — with the initiative expected to create nearly 150,000 labour and technical jobs in the country, a news source reported.
The ML-1 is the biggest project of its kind in the country’s history, and will connect Karachi with Peshawar through a 1,780-kilometre-long track. Ahmed further added that not only will the project create jobs, it would also propel the country’s economy forward.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) had recently approved the ML-1 project, under which the existing track will be upgraded. The track was initially laid in 1861 but has now fallen into dilapidated conditions that have led to several accidents in the past. After the development work has been completed on the project, modern trains will be able to operate on the track at a speed of up to 160 kilometres per hours without any issues.
