ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank have moved to restart the long-delayed Main Line-1 (ML-1) railway overhaul by putting the first section — Karachi to Rohri — on an ADB-backed track that could become the new financing template for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), officials said Friday. The pivot shifts ML-1 from years of China-only negotiations toward multilateral scrutiny and phased construction, as Islamabad tries to turn a marquee project into a buildable package, Dec. 19, 2025.
In a press note from Pakistan’s information department, the railways ministry called ML-1 the system’s “backbone,” saying it carries nearly 80% of passenger traffic and 90% of freight nationwide. The statement said ADB Director General Leah Gutierrez reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to provide “technical and financial assistance,” and that both sides agreed to target a July 2026 groundbreaking for the Karachi-Rohri package.
That pivot is already showing up in the paperwork lenders care about. Dawn reported the ADB is providing $10 million in project readiness financing to prepare documentation for a Karachi-Rohri segment valued at about $2 billion. In practical terms, it is the design, procurement planning and safeguard groundwork that usually has to be finished before larger loans can move forward.
CPEC’s ML-1 reboot: why the Karachi-Rohri segment moved first
Reuters reported that the ADB was in advanced talks to lead a consortium financing a $2 billion upgrade of about 500 kilometers of track from Karachi to Rohri after prolonged delays in securing Chinese financing. The sources said the lender would run the project through competitive bidding and bring in an international engineering contractor. One senior Pakistani official warned: “We will have a crisis. How will you evacuate output from Reko Diq? The exhausted line will come under even more pressure.”
Pakistan has tried to frame the shift as CPEC evolution rather than rupture. Railways Minister Muhammad Hanif Abbasi told Arab News that Islamabad sought Beijing’s consent before pursuing ADB funding for the section, saying: “Yes, of course. Chinese are our brothers. We could not have moved forward without asking the Chinese first.”
CPEC and the long stall: a project that keeps being re-sliced
The reboot also underlines how long ML-1 has been caught between ambition and affordability. In 2017, Dawn reported Pakistan refused part financing from the ADB after China said it wanted to fund the project single-handedly, concentrating delivery and debt risk in one negotiating track.
In 2020, Pakistan approved ML-1 on a cost-sharing basis with China. Reuters reported the plan would upgrade 2,655 kilometers of track, allow trains to run up to 165 kilometers per hour and lift line capacity from 34 to more than 150 trains each way per day. Those targets have remained largely on paper as the project repeatedly reset amid shifting costs and financing debates.
Whether this CPEC reboot sticks will depend less on announcements than on execution: finalizing designs, running transparent tenders and funding routine maintenance so new track does not quickly deteriorate. If the Karachi-Rohri package reaches financial close and breaks ground on schedule, it could give CPEC’s rail pillar its first credible timetable in years.
