Railways denies bullet train project between Karachi and Lahore

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Railways has rejected reports claiming the government plans to build a bullet train linking Karachi and Lahore, calling them “completely baseless and misleading.”

The Ministry clarified that Railways Minister Muhammad Hanif Abbasi has not announced any high-speed rail project. “Hanif Abbasi has made no such statement about launching a bullet train,” said Pakistan Railway Spokesperson Babar Ali. He added that the government’s current priority is improving existing railway facilities and urged the public to rely only on official communications from the Ministry.

The clarification came after state-run media reported on August 24 that a 1,215-kilometre bullet train line under the $6.8 billion ML-1 upgrade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would cut travel time between Karachi and Lahore from 20 hours to five, with stops in Hyderabad, Multan, and Sahiwal.

Earlier this year, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif approved the Lahore-Rawalpindi bullet train project, which aims to reduce travel time between the two cities to 2.5 hours.