ML-1 rail upgrading to begin this year

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Railways has informed the National Assembly that the upgrading of the 1,726-kilometre Main Line-1 railway track from Karachi to Peshawar will be carried out in five phases at an estimated cost of $6.66 billion.

According to official documents submitted to the lower house, the first phase will cover the 480-kilometre Karachi-Rohri section. The ministry said work on this segment is set to begin first, with a groundbreaking ceremony expected later this year.

The documents state that the Karachi-Rohri section has an estimated construction cost of $2 billion and is scheduled for completion within three years.

Phased plan for Karachi to Peshawar corridor

In the second phase, the 449-kilometre Rohri-Multan track will be upgraded at an estimated cost of $1.26 billion. The ministry told the National Assembly that this phase is also expected to be completed within three years.

The third phase will involve the 334-kilometre Multan-Lahore section. According to the documents, work on this stretch is estimated to cost around $880 million and is expected to be completed in two years.

Under the fourth phase, the Lahore-Rawalpindi railway track will be upgraded. The 289-kilometre section has been estimated at $1.56 billion, with completion planned over three years.

The fifth and final phase will cover the 174-kilometre Rawalpindi-Peshawar section. The ministry said the estimated cost of this segment is $920 million and that it is expected to be completed within two years.

Project details submitted to assembly

The plan was presented by the Ministry of Railways in the National Assembly through official documents detailing the scope, cost and timeline of the ML-1 project.

The project spans the country’s main north-south rail corridor, linking Karachi with Peshawar through Rohri, Multan, Lahore and Rawalpindi. The ministry’s submission sets out separate timelines and cost estimates for each section of the route.

According to the documents, the first visible step in the project will be the start of work on the Karachi-Rohri section, followed by the remaining stretches in sequence under the five-phase framework.

The ministry’s plan places the total estimated cost of the full ML-1 upgrading scheme at $6.66 billion, with completion periods for individual phases ranging from two to three years depending on the section involved.