By Abdul Wajid Khan ISLAMABAD, Nov 02 (INP-WealthPk) – An agreement between the governments of Pakistan and China on the Pakistan Railways much-awaited Main Line-1 (ML-1) key project will be formalised soon, as negotiations in this regard are in the final stage. ML-1 is the Pakistan Railways much-awaited project under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Basharat Waheed, a senior official of the Ministry of Railway dealing with the ML1 matters, told INP-WealthPk that all issues related to the project had been almost resolved with the Chinese government and hopefully, the agreement will be finalised in one or two meetings. “All issues have been settled and negotiations with relevant Chinese authorities on the interest rate and other relevant matters are underway positively. Pakistan prefers disbursement of loan in dollars instead of RMB because it will better facilitate the contractor for procurements. These are not big issues and will be settled soon,” Waheed said. “An important meeting in this regard will be held this month and then another follow-up meeting will be convened and more progress on these issues will be made,” he added. Answering a question about the project cost, Waheed said the estimated cost was $6.8 billion but the actual cost will be finalised after the completion of the bidding process. He said a tender will be issued for package-one estimated to cost US$2.7 billion and the loan portion will be around US$ 2.4 billion. He said after the completion of the financial agreement, tender will be issued forbidding and around six months will be further required to start active work on the project. Waheed said the Dasu Dam tragedy had also impacted the project progress adding that Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on CPEC Affairs Khalid Mansoor was playing an active role to resolve issues and now the project speed had again increased. “We have also held a meeting with Khalid Mansoor and he informed us that he’s working on the project on a priority basis and all issues will be settled as soon as possible”, he added. Experts say the rehabilitation, upgradation and modernisation of Pakistan Railways existing track under CPEC will boost socio-economic development in the country, creating thousands of jobs for the Pakistani citizens. The project will provide time and cost-effective facilities for passengers and businesses. It also has a great potential of becoming the economic backbone of Pakistan. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) had approved ML-1 at the rationalized cost of US$6,806.783 million on a 90:10% cost sharing basis between the governments of China and Pakistan on August 5, 2020. Under this project, the existing (1,872 kms) track from Karachi to Peshawar will be upgraded via Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Rohri, Rahimyar Khan, Bahawalpur, Khanewal, Sahiwal, Lahore, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi and Peshawar. ECNEC had also decided the execution of the project in three packages. To avoid commitment charges, the loan amount for each package will be separately contracted. US$2.7 billion was approved for Package-I which includes Nawabshah-Rohri Section (183 Km), Multan-Lahore Section (339 Km), Lahore-Lalamusa Section (132 Km), Kaluwal-Pindora Section (52 Km) and upgradation of Walton Railway Academy at Lahore. An amount of $2.67 billion was approved for Package-II for upgradation of Kimari-Hyderabad Section (182 Km) and Hyderabad-Multan Section (566 Km). ECNEC had approved a cost of $1.42 billion for Package-III for construction of Lalamusa-Rawalpindi Section (105 Km), Rawalpindi - Peshawar Section (174 km) and establishment of a dry port near Havelian. The project scope includes a doubling of the entire track from Karachi to Peshawar, raising the speed of passenger trains from 65/110km/h to 160 km/h, operating freight trains at 120 km/h, computer-based signalling, control system and grade separation to ensure the safety of train operations, the establishment of a dry port near Havelian and upgradation of Walton Training Academy Lahore. ML-1 Project was declared ‘Strategic’ by the 6th JCC in Beijing and Framework Agreement on ML-1 was signed on 15th May 2017 during then PM Visit to China. Commercial Contract for Preliminary Design was signed on 15th May 2017. The PC-1 of the project was approved by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on 6th June 2020.