PAKISTAN’s federal minister for railways, Hanif Abbasi, says the government has approved in principle plans to introduce a new high-speed rail service linking Lahore and Islamabad in the province of Punjab. After a meeting with Punjab senior minister, Maryam Aurangzeb, on April 26, Abbasi says the new line could reduce journey time between the two cities from 4 hours to 2h 45min.
Funding for the project, estimated at up to $US 10bn, has yet to be agreed and Aurangzeb is liaising with Pakistan Railways (PR) over a number of potential options, including a public-private partnership (PPP) model.