Chinese Railway to up-grade rail lines from Karachi to Hyderabad

Lahore : Chinese Railway Eryuan Engineering Consortium and Project Implementation Unit of Pakistan Railways presented a detailed briefing on Up gradation of existing and building of new rail lines from Karachi to Hyderabad.

The briefing which is part of upcoming CPEC projects was given to CEO and all concerned officials here at Railways Headquarters, Lahore. Exploring the different options on passenger dedicated Rail corridor connecting Karachi to rest of the country, a detailed briefing was followed by brain storming session where provisions of building of new railway stations and new rail alignments, up gradation of existing rail link all were discussed.

CEO Railways asked officers to ponder deeply over each and every option, come up with questions so more discussions should lead to a doable, cost effective consensus before it is presented to higher authorities, he said we should keep in mind next 25 to 30 years and plan things accordingly.

We need to work out on options that are strategically viable and provide another rail link joining the country with port as an alternative to the existing line. The discussion mainly focused on passenger dedicated new Railway stations and rail line under CPEC. The number of tunnels and bridges required for high speed rail link were also discussed.

CEO further said our goal is to go for the best option that will straighten the line, minimize the distance, facilitate the passenger and increase the speed with maximum safety. The trends of expansion of metropolitan like Karachi and Hyderabad are to be kept in mind so we may plan and implement what benefit people even after 30 years.

He further asked the committee to expedite the homework on all the options presented so the same will be conveyed to Ministry of Railways, Federal Minister for Railways for final decision.