LAHORE, May 8: Minister for Railways Mian Shamim Haider will formally inaugurate work on a second rail link between Pakistan and India in Mirpurkhas on May 10. Officials told Dawn on Sunday that for the Khokhrapar-Monabao rail link upgradation plan some 500 people would be engaged to replace the 124km meter gauge track with broad gauge.

The track replacement would cost Rs1 billion, sources said, adding that the government had given the Pakistan Railways Rs3.1 billion for the rehabilitation and upgradation of the Mirpurkhas-Khokhrapar rail link.

The plan proposed extension of the rail track for another 10 kilometres up to Monabao in Rajasthan so that a second Indo-Pakistan train service could be restored. All railway stations between Khokhrapar and Monabao would be renovated under the plan, besides the upgradation of the signal system and allied equipment.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has already directed the railways authorities to complete the track by year-end. The resumption of the Khokhrapar-Monabao rail link would reduce travel time between India and Pakistan to five hours. At present, people from Sindh have to travel via Lahore.