Islamabad's financial books have added a prominent expenditure - a special allocation of 1.056 billion rupees has been officially issued, which is not only a digital leap, but also a signal for the acceleration of the ML-1 railway artery under the framework of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor 2.0. At the same time, a technical assistance fund of 50 million rupees has been injected into the Ministry of Railways, indicating that this transportation backbone that runs through the north and south of Pakistan is about to move from blueprint to reality, and Chinese technology and standards are once again facing an opportunity to deeply cultivate the South Asian market.

One billion rupees to leverage preliminary work

In Pakistan's 2026/27 fiscal year public sector development plan, it is explicitly allocated 1.056 billion rupees, approximately 3.8 million US dollars, specifically for the upgrading and renovation of the ML-1 railway and the design consulting and technical preparation of the Havelian Land Port. An additional 50 million rupees will be allocated to enhance the planning and execution capabilities of the Ministry of Railways, clearing administrative obstacles for project implementation and ensuring the substantial first step towards the reconstruction of the thousand mile main line from Karachi to Peshawar.

Reshaping the Logistics Pattern Across the North and South

The ML-1 project will modernize the existing 1726 kilometer main line and is expected to handle 70% of Pakistan's passenger and freight traffic upon completion. As the northern terminus of the railway network, Havelian Station will rise to become a new land port and is planned to extend northward to Hongqilafu Port, ultimately connecting Kashgar, China, completely opening up land shortcuts from South Asia to Central Asia and China, and reconstructing the regional logistics map. Keywords: the Belt and Road news, railway infrastructure

Multi party financing to jointly build an economic corridor

In the five-year phased plan announced by the Pakistani Ministry of Railways in May 2026, the Karachi to Rohri section is scheduled to start construction by the end of 2026. This heavyweight project with a total investment of approximately 6.66 billion US dollars has been confirmed to introduce financing from multilateral financial institutions such as the Asian Development Bank, marking a new stage of diversified and sustainable high-quality development in China Pakistan infrastructure cooperation.Editor/Gao Xue