Latest news with #railwayupgrade
Arab News
19-07-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Pakistan mulls ADB role in CPEC's flagship Main Line‑1 railway upgrade
KARACHI: Pakistan is considering financial support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the long-delayed Main Line‑1 (ML‑1) railway upgrade — part of the China‑Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) — as an ADB fact-finding team inspected a section of the track on Saturday, according to an official statement. ML‑1, a $6.7 billion upgrade of Pakistan's 1,687-kilometer Karachi–Peshawar rail artery, is central to CPEC. The overhaul, involving track doubling, advanced signaling and higher-speed trains, is expected to boost cargo and passenger capacity while easing the transport of trade goods to and from the country's southern ports. 'Experts from the Asian Development Bank inspected the Karachi to Rohri railway line today,' Pakistan Railways said in a statement. 'The Bank's Chief Transport Planner, Sangyoon Kim, conducted the 480-kilometer track inspection alongside the chief engineer (open lines) of Pakistan Railways.' 'ADB's fact-finding specialists will prepare a report on the readiness of the Main Line-1 (ML-1) project, following which a final decision regarding the project's financing will be made,' the statement added. ML‑1 underpins Pakistan's main rail connectivity, carrying a major bulk of the country's cargo and passenger traffic. The project was approved by the Economic Coordination Committee in 2020 but has repeatedly stalled amid funding hitches. Speaking to Arab News, Babar Ali Raza, spokesperson at the railways ministry, said ADB was currently only preparing the feasibility. 'The main financier is China,' he continued. 'The team conducting the inspection is assessing its own feasibility to determine whether ADB can provide financing or not.' 'This would be ADB's own financing,' he added, 'however much they want to contribute.' Pakistan and China have described CPEC as a 'game-changer' for growth. The corridor comprises multibillion-dollar infrastructure initiatives covering roads, energy and rail. The two countries are also striving for regional connectivity, with Pakistan actively pursuing economic diplomacy in the neighborhood and offering its southern ports to landlocked Central Asian countries for global trade.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Delays 'risk derailing station improvement work'
A council leader has called for "urgent action" to ensure plans to improve a local train station are not derailed. Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council leader Simon Tagg said funding had been secured for a scheme, which included parking for 200 cars and a new transport interchange, to better connect services at Kidsgrove Railway Station. However, he said Network Rail was blocking work to investigate the extent of subsidence in the area following decades of coal mining nearby. Network Rail has been contacted for a comment. It is understood funding for the project will lapse in March 2027. Tagg said bosses at Network Rail - which owns and manages most of the railway infrastructure in Great Britain - had demanded a fully-funded restoration plan prior to granting permission for the work. He said he felt this was unrealistic as Kidsgrove Town Deal Board, which is overseeing the scheme, would not be able to predict costings until the work had begun. The town board only had a fixed budget to work with, he added. He said funding for the Kidsgrove station upgrade was announced in October 2023 following the cancellation of the northern section of HS2. It is believed the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been monitoring the situation, and is in discussion with both Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and Network Rail. The BBC understands the government department expects decisions relating to the project to be handled by the borough council and Kidsgrove Town Deal Board. Mr Tagg said he had written to local MP David Williams, urging him to ensure funding was still in place, but had not received a response. Mr Williams did not respond to the BBC's request for a comment. "This delay is frustrating because not only do we risk losing funding for a much-needed project, but town deal money has been used successfully elsewhere in Kidsgrove," Mr Tagg said. "The train station upgrade is an important part of Kidsgrove's regeneration and we need a resolution," he added. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Mining works could derail station upgrade - MP Colourful projections light up Victorian tunnels Chancellor announces £1bn for 45 areas of England Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
Malay Mail
09-05-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
Passenger rail service coming to Pasir Gudang-Kempas Baru line by next year, says transport minister
JOHOR BARU, May 9 — Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) and Railway Assets Corporation (RAC) will introduce passenger services on the Pasir Gudang-Kempas Baru line by next year at the latest. Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the new service is expected to start within six to 12 months, taking into account the need to build new passenger stations along the line. 'Throughout this year, we can find at least three locations (stations) to drop off and pick up passengers,' he told reporters after officiating the reopening of the track for cargo service operations for the Kempas Baru-Pasir Gudang route, near here today. He said the Transport Ministry will carry out studies and discuss with the state government to get suitable locations for the stations. Loke said that for a start, the passenger services would use existing KTMB coaches and that he would consider purchasing new coaches in the future. 'We want something that can be immediately implemented within a short period. We want this project to be implemented promptly, so we will discuss with the Finance Ministry for approval and use RAC resources to finance this project,' he said. Meanwhile, Loke said that the Pasir Gudang-Kempas Baru line has been reopened after being closed since last October for work to upgrade the 39.9-kilometre (km) track, encompassing three main sections, namely Kempas Baru-Seelong, Seelong-Johor Port and Johor Port-Pasir Gudang. He added that the upgrading work involved repairing railway structures, building new drainage systems, replacing track and gravel and improving the signalling and safety systems, with a total project value of RM55 million. 'With the reopening of the track for the Pasir Gudang-Kempas Baru cargo service operation, KTMB will increase container handling from 140 20-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) per day previously to at least 420 TEUs per day, which is a three-fold increase.' 'Previously, KTMB only made two trips a day, but after the reopening, KTMB will have cargo trains making at least six trips daily,' he said. He said that customers can also increase their container transfer activities not only from the Pasir Gudang Port to the Tanjung Pelepas Port but also to other ports in Peninsular Malaysia, including the Kuantan Port via the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), Port Klang, Penang Port and even out of the country via Thailand and to China. — Bernama
