Pakistan railway news
News about railway and urban rail infrastructure, operations, policy, projects and the supply industry in Pakistan.
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Metro Report InternationalPakistan: Lahore’s pioneering metro approaches maturity
This month, Lahore’s Orange metro line completes four years of operation serving Pakistan’s second largest city. Its growing ridership and positive socio-economic impact have spurred the local authorities to plan three more urban rail lines, although funding remains an issue.
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In depthComment: Rail is resurgent despite turbulent times
While emerging markets have long held promise, rail investment is now happening in countries where even in the recent past it would have seemed implausible. Nick Kingsley highlights examples from Iraq to Mongolia.
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NewsFour-pronged strategy to develop Pakistan Railways
PAKISTAN: A four-pronged strategy for financial autonomy, governance and growth, private sector participation and leveraging technology at Pakistan Railways has been set out by Railways Board Chairman Syed Mazhar Ali Shah. Financial Autonomy Shah said Pakistan Railways’ statutory position as a government ...
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NewsDubai backs Karachi dedicated freight corridor plan
PAKISTAN: Plans to establish a dedicated rail freight corridor and economic zone near Karachi are included in two inter-governmental framework agreements signed by the governments of Pakistan and Dubai on January 17. The agreements cover plans for US$3bn+ of investment in railways, economic zones and infrastructure. ...
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Metro Report InternationalIslamabad holds light rail talks
PAKISTAN: The Capital Development Authority has met with Chinese railway officials to discuss the potential development of a light rail system in Islamabad. Four possible lines were considered by CDA and two routes have been selected for further development. The first would run for 30·5 km ...
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NewsTrans-Afghanistan Railway agreement signed
ASIA: Officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan have agreed the route for the proposed Trans-Afghanistan Railway, which is being planned as joint initiative between the three countries to promote regional connectivity and provide Central Asia with access to Pakistan’s seaports. The protocol was signed at a ...
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NewsCRRC delivers coaches to Pakistan
PAKISTAN: CRRC Tangshan has delivered a batch of 46 broad-gauge long-distance coaches for Pakistan Railways. CRRC Tangshan was awarded a Rs31bn contract in November 2021 to supply 230 long-distance coaches and spare parts to Pakistan Railways. Arriving in Karachi by ship on ...
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NewsSix policy reforms to strengthen railways in Central Asia
ASIA: An Asian Development Bank assessment of the state of railways in the 11 countries of the Central Asia Regional Economic Co-operation Programme has set out six reforms that ADB believes are needed to make rail more efficient and financially sustainable. The CAREC area covers Afghanistan, ...
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NewsPakistan Railways launches Karachi container service
PAKISTAN: Pakistan Railways has inaugurated a service transporting containers from Hutchison Ports’ South Asia Pakistan Terminal in Karachi to inland destinations including Lahore. Speaking at the launch ceremony on January 24, Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati said the port is expected to handle 3·1 million containers/year, ...
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NewsIslamabad – Tehran – Istanbul freight service relaunched
ASIA: A rail freight service linking Islamabad, Tehran and Istanbul has been relaunched, a decade after the last attempt to develop services on the 6 500 km route. The ISI train was despatched with a ceremony in Islamabad on December 21, and reached Ankara on January ...
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NewsPakistan finalises Chinese coach contract
PAKISTAN: CRRC Tangshan Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co Ltd has signed a contract to supply 230 ‘high speed’ passenger coaches to Pakistan Railways, under plans to revitalise the country’s long-distance passenger services.
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NewsKarachi Circular Railway section revived
PAKISTAN: The long-proposed resumption of services on part of the Karachi Circular Railway was celebrated with an inaugural train on November 19. Pakistan Railways has reinstated a passenger service on an initial 14 km of the 55 km orbital route around the city, with was developed ...
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Metro Report InternationalLahore joins the metro club
PAKISTAN: The country’s first modern metro was opened on October 25, when the Chief Minister of Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar inaugurated Lahore’s Orange Line.
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Metro Report InternationalLahore tramway MoU signed
PAKISTAN: The Punjab Transport Department has signed a memorandum of understanding with Tong Hao Railway Vehicles Corp for the development of a tramway in Lahore. The department’s Lahore Transport Co would act as project promoter for the proposed PPP scheme that would see a route built along ...
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NewsADB grant to help CAREC countries move from landlocked to land-linked
ASIA: The Asian Development Bank has awarded a US$2m regional technical assistance grant to support the development of railway strategies and institutional capabilities in the Central Asia Regional Economic Co-operation countries. CAREC comprises Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and six multilateral institutions. ...
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NewsChina to Pakistan by rail and road
ASIA: Kerry Logistics Network has launched a rail and road multimodal freight service between Lanzhou in China and Islamabad in Pakistan, operated by its member company Lanzhou Pacific Logistics Corp. A block train carrying mechanical equipment, car parts, commodities and snow melting agent left Lanzhou on October 23 and ...
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NewsTesting begins on Lahore Orange Line
PAKISTAN: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif officially launched dynamic tests of the first metro train for the Lahore Orange Line on October 8. ‘The Orange Line is not just a public transport project, but a means of extending to citizens respect and delivering a world-class transport facility’, said Sharif. ...
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NewsPakistan Railways orders GE locomotives for the north
PAKISTAN: GE Transportation announced an agreement to supply 20 FDL C20EMP diesel locomotives to Pakistan Railways on June 7. The 1 676 mm gauge C20EMP locomotives are to be supplied from Erie in the USA by the end of 2018. They will be a lightweight 2 000 hp mixed ...
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NewsLahore Metro’s first train rolls out
PAKISTAN: The first of 27 five-car metro trains for the 27·1 km Orange Line now under construction in Lahore was rolled out at CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive’s plant in China on May 15. The trains are scheduled to be delivered between July and the end of this year. The styling is ...
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NewsIstanbul – Dhaka – Yangon corridor plan to improve South Asia rail connectivity
ASIA: Officials and policy makers from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey attended a conference on March 15-16 to discuss proposals to improve international rail connectivity in South & Southwest Asia. The event in Delhi was organised by United Nations Economic & Social Commission ...