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Improving infrastructure connectivity in Pakistan
The China–Pakistan cross-border economic belt, linked by the China–Pakistan Karakoram Highway, has taken shape under CPEC. Through international logistics nodes such as Gwadar Port, Karachi and Peshawar, Pakistan serves to transport products from western China to countries in the Middle East and the Indian Ocean via transit transport. Therefore, infrastructure connectivity is also one of the important areas in the early harvest projects of CPEC.
The Karakoram Highway Phase 2 (Havelian–Thakot section) is 118.124 km long, including 39.305 km of expressway and 78.819 km of secondary highway. The project officially started on September 1, 2016. Currently, more than half of the project has been completed.
The section from Sukkur, Sindh in the south to Multan, Punjab in the north, of the Karachi–Peshawar Expressway, is 392 km long, with a total investment of US$2.89 billion. The construction was undertaken by China State Construction Engineering Corporation. The project officially started in August 2016. The 33-km section from Multan to Shujabad was opened to traffic 15 months ahead of schedule on May 26, 2018. The entire Sukkur–Multan section is expected to be open to traffic in August 2019. The Karachi–Peshawar Expressway is designed with 6 lanes in two directions and a speed of 120 km/h. It will greatly improve the traffic in the two cities upon completion.
The Lahore Orange Line rail transit project was put into trial operation on October 8, 2017. The line is 25.58 km long and is organized into five carriages, each carrying 200 passengers. The train starts from Ali Town and terminates at Dera Gujran. The total distance can be covered in 45 minutes with stops on 14 stations, compared with 2.5 hours of road travel between the two places. According to the design plan, the Orange Line will have a capacity of 250,000 passengers per day at the beginning of operation, which will be further increased to 500,000 passengers per day by 2025.
Over the past five years, 51,000 direct jobs were created in the road infrastructure sector under CPEC projects, of which 48,000 were created specifically for local Pakistanis. Further, infrastructure projects are expected to spur the development of Pakistan’s building-related industries and attract more foreign investment.
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