THE upgradation of the centuries-old railway system under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is no doubt a welcome move.

However, an important aspect which must be taken into account when rehabilitation planning is being done is the selection of track gauge.

At present, Pakistan Railways is based on the broad gauge which means that the internal width between the track is five feet and six inches. The platforms and the entire rolling stock have been designed on the basis of this broad gauge.

This gauge was designed by the British. This typical gauge is only available in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. At the moment, there are different gauges of tracks in different regions. The most prominent is standard gauge which has the internal width of four feet and eight and a half inches.

Europe, China and Iran use this standard gauge. Iran, Turkey and Europe have a compatible track. It may be noted that a train moving from Pakistan cannot travel into Iran because of this technical issue.

On the other hand, a train starting from Iran can reach into the heart of Europe without any technical difficulty. A Pakistani train can neither go to Turkey nor to any European country unless a changeover of train takes place at Iranian border.

In this era of globalisation, the land trade routes are more important than the sea routes.

Ahmed Noman

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2018