Early development

The Scinde Railway was constructed in 1861 as a 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge railway line between Karachi and Kotri.^[5][6] Work on the line had commenced in April 1858 and was the first railway line for public use in the region.^[7] Following the completion of the line, the Indus Steam Flotilla began docking in Kotri (instead of Karachi) from Multan.^[8] The Punjab Railway was constructed and inaugurated in late 1861 as a 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge railway line between Multan and Lahore, and later extended to Amritsar.^[5][6][9] Thus the travel time between Sindh and Punjab was greatly reduced together with the Scinde Railway, Indus Steam Flotilla and Punjab Railways; what normally took 40 days to travel between Karachi and Lahore now took 48 hours to transport passengers and cargo.

Mergers & expansion

In 1870, the Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway was formed from the incorporation of the Scinde Railway, Indus Steam Flotilla, Punjab Railway and Delhi Railway companies in order to increase efficiency of passenger and cargo transport between Sindh and Punjab.^[10] However, the rail gap between Kotri and Multan was considered a hassle as the Indus River and Sutlej River were major obstacles to cross at the time. In 1871, the Indus Valley State Railway was inaugurated and construction began on extending the railway line from Multan south towards Bahawalpur (crossing the Sutlej River) and on wards to Rohri. In 1876, the Punjab Northern State Railway was constructed between Lahore and Peshawar and in 1883 the Attock Bridge over the Indus River was opened.^[11] In 1878, the Empress Bridge over the Sutlej River was opened and in 1879 the Indus Valley State Railway reached Rohri. From Rohri, a steam ferry would transport eight rail carriages at a time across the Indus between Rohri and Sukkur. This was found to be cumbersome and time-consuming. In 1889, the Lansdowne Bridge between Rohri and Sukkar was opened and in 1893, work on the Kotri Bridge commenced. It was only in 1900 that the section between Rohri and Kotri was completed.^[12][13][14] In 1885, all the companies were merged to form the North Western State Railway.

Upgrade plan

At the time of CPEC's announcement, the ML-1 dual track consisted between Karachi, and Lahore suburb of Shahdara and between Golra Sharif and Chaklala, with long stretches of single track. Construction works to dualize the track between Lodhran to Shahdara were completed and inaugurated in January 2016.^[26] As part of the first phase of the CPEC railway project, the remaining stretch of track between Shahdara and Peshawar is to be upgraded to a dual track railway.^[27]

The first part of the expedited first phase of the project will focus on upgrading the Multan to Peshawar section, which will then be followed by the Hyderabad to Multan section, and finally by the Hyderabad to Karachi section.^[28]

The 676 kilometer portion between Lalamusa, north of Lahore, and Peshawar will require complete reconstruction with the addition of tunnels, culverts, and bridges, while over 900 kilometers south of Lalamusa towards Karachi will be upgraded to handle cars with a 25-ton axle load capacity.^[29] A spur from Taxila to Havelian will also be constructed, with a dry port to be established near the city of Havelian.^[30] Further, the entire length of track will have computerised signal systems, with stretches of track in urban areas to also be fenced off to prevent pedestrians and vehicles from crossing tracks in unauthorised areas.^[31] There will be fence of one side of track, so that humans and animals will not be able to cross the track.

In November 2022 the Pakistan and Chinese heads of state signed an agreement to being work on the line with Chinese financing.^[15] The Financial Times has reported criticism that the loans are a poor choice economically, especially with the state being under financial strain; however this has been countered that the upgrades are necessary with the risk of the railway system not functioning otherwise.^[15]

In June 2024, the upgrade work on the ML-1 will start together with the upgrade work for the Karachi Circular Railways (KCR).^[32]