Islamabad: Pakistan is seeking investment from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to overhaul its aging railway system, with Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi estimating that around USD 2.5 billion will be required to modernise the Multan–Lahore section.
The minister, in an interview with Arab News, said he would travel to Saudi Arabia on October 19–20 and to the UAE from September 30 to October 2 to present proposals under a build-operate-transfer model. The plan would allow investors to operate designated railway sections for 25 years in return for financing upgrades.
“If they come to Multan–Lahore, or Lahore–Rawalpindi, it is an offer from us,” Abbasi said, adding that the same proposals had been extended to the UAE.
Pakistan’s railway network, much of it built during the 19th-century British colonial period, has long awaited large-scale modernisation. Successive governments have struggled to secure funding, while projects announced under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) remain stalled. An upgrade of more than 1,800 kilometres of track was billed as a centrepiece of the USD 60 billion CPEC programme launched in 2015, but financing has yet to materialise.
Abbasi noted that the Asian Development Bank has separately expressed interest in supporting rail upgrades, including a USD 2 billion Karachi–Rohri project. He also confirmed discussions with Dubai-based Mashreq Bank, which recently expanded digital services in Pakistan, about potential opportunities in the railway sector.
The minister stressed that Pakistan is actively looking to Gulf partners for investment, describing the present moment as the “right time” for foreign stakeholders to engage in the country’s railway modernisation drive.
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