At last, the government has finalised the feasibility report, worth Rs 70.63 billion, to connect Gwadar port with the country''s main rail network, it is learnt.
According to the copy of the feasibility report, made available to Business Recorder, the project would also act as a vital link to Central Asian Republics, thus attracting the transit and transshipment trade.
"We have come out with a feasibility report to construct a railway line from Gwadar, connecting it with the existing rail network," an official of the Ministry of Railways told this scribe.
Pakistan sea port trade is presently being handled at Karachi and Bin Qasim ports. Gwadar, as a full-fledged deep-water port, will become a regional hub and also an alternative to Gulf ports.
As railway is considered to be economical and safe and suited for long haul traffic, it has been decided to construct a railway line from Gwadar connecting it with main network at Quetta-Kohi-Taftan section.
A detailed feasibility study was carried out by Pakistan Railways in which various alternatives were studied, including Gwadar-Mastung link.
The track, commencing from Gwadar, on way it would pass through Turbat-Hushab-Panjgur-Nag-Besima-Surab and Kalat before reaching its end destination Mastung.
The 961-km route is considered to be the shortest in length, covering most parts of scattered population in the area. It is also seen the least difficult technically and viable economically.
The route would run through the central portion of troubled Balochistan where a number of new district roads would be built in close proximity of railway stations.
However, the proposed alignments between Hushab and Panjgur and Surab-Kalat-Mastung are difficult areas with steep grades and sharp curves.
On the Iranian border, the railway line from Quetta to Kohi-Taftan continues on to Zahidan in Iran. There it terminates but an additional 600 kilometers of railway line would have to be built to link it to the main Iranian railway system at Kerman, being constructed by Iran.
There is no railway in Afghanistan, and a line from Quetta terminates on the border at Chaman, while in the north, the railway system ends at Landi Kotal, situated just close to Pak-Afghan border.
In this rail-road regional logistics scenario, the importance of the proposed Gwadar-Mastung rail link project has become highly significant.
Railways officials conceive the project as a mother-hub that would provide the required strength and economic boost to the future projects in the country''s, area wise, ''biggest'' province.
According to the feasibility report, the estimated cost for construction of the new rail link is around Rs 70.63 billion, including cost of land. The estimates are quite likely to change on finalisation and selection of final rail line route.
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