Quetta-Kandahar railway service under consideration: Ahsan

BEIJING: Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal said on Thursday that Pakistan and Afghanistan are planning to start a railway service from Quetta to Kandahar with the cooperation of China, Geo news reported.

“A plan to start fast train with a speed from 250km to 350km from Peshawar to Karachi via Lahore is in the near future,” he said in an exclusive interview with Geo News, referring to his meeting with Chairman China Railway Construction Corporation, Meng Fengchao.

He also said that the ML-1 from Peshawar to Karachi is being upgraded at a cost of $8 billion and after the completion of this project the speed of trains will increase from existing 80km per hour to 160km per hour. He also said that they plan to connect Gwadar port with the railway network and start a direct train service from Quetta to Peshawar.