M L-1 : a new era of railway networks across time

《一带一路报道》记者 彭纳

留与不留的抉择

The choice of whether to keep it or not

站在这座带有浓重英式风格的火车站，嘈杂中，孙中阳将图纸拿出来，为记者解答了心中的疑问，这座站台将被完全保留下来，除了加强站台的服务能力以外，这里的变化还将体现在通讯、电力的改造上，在现有站台的一侧还会有一些铁路工人的住房、工作楼房等拔地而起，“其余部分，会完全保留现有的样貌。”

Entering this railway station with a strong British style, Sun Zhongyang took out the drawings and answered the questions for the reporter amid the noise. This platform will be completely preserved. In addition to strengthening the service capabilities of the platform, the changes here will also be reflected in the transformation of communications and power. On the side of the existing platform, some buildings will be built for the railway workers to live and work, “And we will keep the rest as it is”.

在车站实地考察了半小时后，来不及擦去已经流到下巴的汗水、换去已经从浅蓝晕湿变成深蓝的工作服，工程师们便迫切地向巴方业主、运输专家哈马丹提出了更多的疑问，这便出现了文章开头车站VIP室里热烈讨论的场景。

After half an hour’s field visit at the station, although there’s not even time to wipe off the sweat that had flowed to the chin, and to replace the working clothes that had changed from light blue to dark blue, the engineers urgently raised more questions to Hamdan, the Pakistani owner and transportation expert, which led to the scene of heated discussion in the VIP room of the station at the beginning of the article.

有所留就有所不留，从火车站出来，我们的汽车一路穿越狭窄的街道、缓行的驴车、头顶货物的行人，在将这个典型的巴基斯坦小集市渐渐甩在身后以后，不一会儿就到达了拉维河大桥。泛黄的拉维河奔袭着远去，400多米的河道中，成群的水牛正懒懒地泡在水中，与拉维尔河遥相呼应的大桥上，汽车、三轮车川流不息。不多时，一辆从白沙瓦南下的火车从锈迹斑斑的红色大桥上缓缓驶过，火车一路鸣笛，提醒着在桥边以及路边的人们让出铁道。

Some would be kept while the rest would be transformed. Leaving the train station, we drove through the narrow streets and passed the donkey carts and the people carrying goods on their heads, leaving the typical small Pakistani market behind and soon arriving at the Ravel River Bridge. The yellowing Laver River ran farther away. In the 400-meter-long river course, herds of buffaloes were lazy in the water, while there was a continuous flow of cars and tricycles on the Ravi River Bridge. Before long, a train coming down from Peshawar was moving slowly along the rusted red bridge, whistling to warn people at the side of the bridge and the road to give way.

“这座桥在升级改造后会停用，在旁边不远处的河面上，将会建起一座全新的钢结构双线桥。”指着河道，孙中阳解释道。

“The bridge will be decommissioned after upgrading and a new steel structure double-line bridge will be built over the river nearby.” Sun Zhongyang explained while pointing at the river.

这样的去留在ML-1线的升级改造中数不胜数，其目的只为将线路的运行效率提至最佳。“ML-1线经过的都是巴基斯坦经济最发达的城市，升级改造后，对于沿线经济的带动作用不言而喻。但铁路运输能力的提升不能只依靠一条线路，需要完成的是一个铁路网络的支撑。”孙中阳一针见血地指出了ML-1线升级改造后将面临的外部环境问题，而对于这个问题，在PIU的办公室我们找到了答案。

Such problems of whether to keep it or not were numerous in the upgrading and transformation of ML-1 line, which were only meant to improve the operation efficiency of the line. “The ML-1 line passes through the most developed cities in Pakistan. After upgrading, it will play an obvious role in driving the economy along the route. However, the improvement of railway transportation capacity cannot rely solely on one line. What needs to be completed is the support of a railway network.” Sun Zhongyang pointed out the external environment problems that the ML-1 line would face after upgrading, and we found the answer to this problem in the PIU office.

交通网络时代的到来

The advent of the transportation network era

在巴适哈特的电脑上有一张巴基斯坦铁路网未来规划的设计图，从图纸上看，与ML-1线相辅相成的还有两条线，分别是ML-2线、ML-3线，ML-2线是从戈德里至阿塔克 ，ML-3线则是驶出巴国门的国际线路。“当这两条线路修建完成以后，将与ML-1线形成很好的互补，这对整个巴基斯坦经济的发展都将起到促进作用。”对于未来，巴适哈特充满信心。

There was a design drawing of the future plan of Pakistan’s railway network on the computer of Basharat. According to the drawing, there were two other lines that were complementary to the ML-1 line, namely the ML-2 line from Kotri to Attock and the ML-3 line, which was the international route out of Pakistan. “After these two lines are completed, they will complement the ML-1 line very well, which will promote the development of the entire Pakistani economy.” Mr Basharat was confident about the future.

这样的信心不无道理，巴政府在《2025远景规划》中确立了铁路网发展的三个方向，第一将逐步升级现有轨道和信号系统；第二将新建部分路段，增加复线里程；第三将建设连接瓜达尔地区的铁路；最后将修建和改进连接邻国的铁路。

Such confidence was not unreasonable. The Pakistani government has established three directions for the development of the railway network in the 2025 Vision Plan. First, the existing track and signal system will be upgraded gradually; second, new sections will be built to increase the double-track mileage; third, the railway to connect the Gwadar region will be built; finally, the railways to connect the neighboring countries will be built and improved.

“现阶段的巴基斯坦铁路运输状况跟我们国家早期非常像。经历着类似我国铁路上个世纪七八十年代末面临提速、改头换面的新时期。”项目2期海德拉巴至木尔坦（不含纳瓦布沙阿-罗赫里段）的负责人梁玉告诉记者，中国花了十年时间在火车的提速升级上，终于在2007年进入高铁时代，而这十年的所有经验，如今都将运用到巴基斯坦铁路的升级改造之中。“另外，你知道为什么ML-1线的时速会定在160公里吗？”抛出这个问题后，梁玉立即解释道，160公里/小时是火车从普速到高速的一道坎，迈过这道坎，就掌握了一套准高铁的技术。ML-1线运行以后，将为世界人口第六大国巴基斯坦发展高铁打下技术基础。

“The current railway transport situation in Pakistan is very similar to that of our country. We are going through a new period similar to China’s railway in the late 1970s and 1980s, when the railway faced a new period of speeding up and transformation.” Liang Yu, the person in charge of the project Phase 2, from Hyderabad to Multan (excluding Nauab Shah-Rohri section), told reporters that it took China ten years to upgrade the speed of the train and finally entered the high-speed rail era in 2007. All the experience of this decade will now be applied to the upgrading of Pakistan’s railways. “By the way, do you know why the speed of the ML-1 line is set at 160 km/h?” After asking this question, Liang Yu immediately explained that 160 km/h was a hurdle for the train to go from general speed to high speed. Passing this hurdle meant the mastery of a set of quasi-high-speed rail technology. The operation of the ML-1 line would lay a technological foundation for the development of high-speed rail in Pakistan, the world’s sixth most populous country.

中巴经济走廊建设一落地，基础设施的建设就被放在了首位，几年间，巴国道路建设的迅猛发展除了体现在铁路上，在航空和公路上也表现亮眼。

航空方面，目前，巴基斯坦共有9个国际机场和27个国内机场，开辟了30多条国际航线。未来，已经落地的瓜达尔港新机场项目即将开工建设，国际航线的数量也将不断增加。

As soon as the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was completed, the construction of infrastructure was put in the first place. In a few years, the rapid development of road construction in Pakistan was reflected not only in the railway, but also in the aviation and highway.

In terms of aviation, Pakistan currently has 9 international airports and 27 domestic airports, with more than 30 international routes. In the future, the new airport project of Gwadar Port, which has already been conformed, will be started and the number of international routes will continue to increase.

从巴公路局制定的“十年投资规划”来看，未来十年巴国将重点建设南北向公路网络、加快实施连接瓜达尔港道路以及KKH升级改造工程，具体项目包括新建和改扩建8条高速公路、4条国道。在亚行的支持下，还将修复或扩建8条国道的部分路段……

According to the “ten-year investment plan” formulated by the Highway Bureau of Pakistan, in the next ten years Pakistan will focus on the construction of a north-south highway network, and accelerate the implementation of the road connecting Gwadar Port and KKH upgrading project in the next decade, including the construction, reconstruction and expansion of 8 expressways and 4 national highways. With the support of Asian Development Bank, some sections of the 8 national highways will be repaired or expanded...

如今，行驶在已经完成升级改造的喀喇昆仑公路上，往来不断的卡车装载着中巴两国各地的货物驶向目的地，公路将巴基斯坦路网络扩展到中国边境，打开了巴国与中国这个巨大商业市场的连接。从航拍图看，公路从中国新疆喀什启程，盘亘整个喀喇昆仑山脉，向着巴基斯坦腹地不断延伸，延伸……

Nowadays, an endless stream of trucks carry goods from all over Pakistan and China to their destinations on the upgraded Karakoram Highway, which extends Pakistan’s road network to the Chinese border and opens up Pakistan’s vast commercial market to China. From the perspective of aerial photos, the road starts from Kashgar in Xinjiang, China, and stretches across the entire Karakoram mountains, extending to the hinterland of Pakistan.

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