ML-1 Karachi-Rohri track: $2.5 billion, 480 km of new rail, work likely from January 2027

Pakistan Railways plans to lay 480 km of new track between Karachi and Rohri at a cost of about $2.5 billion, with civil work on the first phase likely to start in January 2027, Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi told the National Assembly on Thursday, ProPakistani reported. The Karachi-Rohri stretch is the first phase of the long-delayed Main Line-1 (ML-1) upgrade, the Peshawar to Karachi trunk route that carries most of the country's passenger and freight trains.

At today's interbank rate of about Rs 276.85 to the dollar, $2.5 billion is roughly Rs 692 billion (our arithmetic; see the dollar rate page).

Why Karachi to Rohri first

The minister's case was safety. He said 349 derailments took place on the network between January 2022 and September 2026, and that track defects were the leading cause, ahead of staff errors (95 cases) and faults in rolling stock (64). Karachi-Rohri and Rohri-Multan are among the most accident-prone sections, where old track leads to frequent derailments and expensive repairs. Inquiries into 331 of the 349 derailments are complete and 120 are still pending, he said.

Pakistan Railways is speeding up market consultations and pre-bid work to meet a deadline set by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the minister said. He did not say how the work would be financed or who would build it, and no tender has been published yet.

What it means for passengers in Sindh

Karachi to Rohri covers the main line through Kotri, Hyderabad, Nawabshah and the approach to Sukkur, the route used by almost every train between Karachi and Punjab. New track would mean fewer speed restrictions and fewer derailment delays on the busiest part of the network. Until work starts, nothing changes for travellers; works of this kind usually bring temporary diversions and slower running on the stretch being rebuilt, and Pakistan Railways has not yet said how it will manage traffic during construction.

For the cost of getting around by road instead, our fuel cost calculator works out a Karachi to Sukkur drive at today's petrol price.

The long road for ML-1

ML-1 has been planned for years as the main rail project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and the government is now building it in phases, starting with the Karachi-Rohri section the minister described on Thursday. We will update this story when the tender or financing is announced.