Pakistan Railways is spending Rs. 1862.84 million for the rehabilitation of 518 kilometers of track between Kotri-Khanpur under the project of Immediate Track Safety Works (ITSW-I). Despite financial constraints, the management of Pakistan Railways is putting maximum effort into improving infrastructure including tracks, bridges, and stations, an official in the Ministry of Railways told APP.
Under the project of rehabilitation of Karachi Port tracks, 24-kilometre tracks, 17 level crossings, and seven bridges have been rehabilitated, along with the replacement of turnouts. The official said that Railway Dry Ports at Lahore (Mughalpura), Badami Bagh, and Azakhel have been upgraded.
He said under the Immediate Track Safety Works (ITS W-II & IMTS W-III), the railway track between Tando Adam-Khanpur covering 456 kilometers would be rehabilitated at a cost of Rs. 4830.437 million and Rs.4875.461 million, respectively, by replacing the US components of the track and ensuring the safety of train operation. A PC-I amounting to Rs.4930.22 million for the rehabilitation of track machinery has been approved, which would ensure the quality of track maintenance work.
Meanwhile, 11 stations have been upgraded, including Peshawar, Hassan Abdal, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Narowal, Nankana Sahib, Raiwind, Okara, Sahiwal, and Bahawalpur, under PSDP projects. The project of up-gradation of Main Line-I at a cost of $6.683 billion has been negotiated with the Chinese side for completing the ML-1 in two phases consisting of four packages, he added.—APP
