ML-1:跨越百年 打造路网新时代

彭纳

8月，已经进入雨季的巴基斯坦被一种湿热裹挟着，凌空高照的烈日肆无忌惮地炙烤着每一寸土地，拉合尔市上百年的火车站里，斑驳屋顶上的吊扇有气无力地打转，却并未给往来的人们带来一丝凉意。远方隐隐传来汽笛声，一辆绿皮火车带着阵热浪和车尾的黄沙缓缓停靠在了站台。顷刻间，人流从车厢涌出，叫嚷声、催促声、轰鸣声为这座原本就热闹的车站又增添了一重喧嚣。

“线路建成以后，既有的平交道口将全部封闭，现有的行包通道以后不能用了，需不需要新建一个？”“从图纸来看，现在尽头线是用于停放火车的地方，以后这里依旧停放火车还是需要修改，巴方有考量过吗？”站台的喧嚣被隔绝在了火车站不大的VIP贵宾室外，这里一场关于站台及铁路沿线ML-1线升级改造地讨论，让室内的热烈与车站的喧嚣呼应起来。那些行色匆匆的人们还不知道，他们乘坐的这条上百年历史的铁路即将更新换代，在不久的未来，他们将进入铁路“高速时代”。

在巴基斯坦铁路分布示意图上，由南端城市卡拉奇开往北部城市白沙瓦的名为ML-1线的铁路线占据了示意图最明显的位置，这条总长1780多公里的铁路穿越了巴基斯坦四大省中的三个，沿线途经海德拉巴、木尔坦、拉合尔、伊斯兰堡等巴基斯坦经济最为发达的城市。可以说，ML-1线是巴基斯坦铁路南北运输的主通道，承担了巴国通过卡拉奇港进出口货物运输以及客流互通的任务。然而，这条线路在今天颇显疲态，究其原因，要追溯这趟列车开过的百年发展史。

ML-1线的建设运输历史，与整个巴基斯坦铁路的建设史休戚相关。1861年5月13日，巴基斯坦国内第一条从卡拉奇开往戈德里的铁路线通车运行，这便是ML-1线的前身。从始建之初到20世纪80年代，以ML-1线为代表的巴基斯坦铁路运输占据着陆路运输的重要位置。

从卡拉奇到白沙瓦，往来的列车在ML-1线奔波了上百年，在这百年里，由于体制、资金和管理等原因，铁路缺乏有效的养护维修，虽然不间断地修修补补，但依旧无力阻止其老化的命运。随着运力和速度的不断下降，再加上公路网络、航空通道的发展，整个铁路运输的货运量在1999年跌至谷底。数据显示，1999年，巴铁路客运量不到客运总量的10%，货运量仅占货运总量（远洋运输除外）的3%。8月4日，PIU（巴基斯坦ML-1线项目执行小组）运输专家哈马丹带领我们参观拉合尔火车站时给出了一组数据，作为巴第二大城市，拉合尔车站每天的客运量在1.4万-1.5万，对比全国2亿的人口总量以及密度，铁路运输的优势没能有效释放。

“如今，ML-1线的平均运营速度只能达到30-40公里/小时，从白沙瓦到卡拉奇全程需要花费30多个小时。”采访中，PIU组长巴适哈特指出，时间就是核心竞争力，要发展经济，必须解决ML-1线乃至整个铁路网的提速升级。如何破解这样的铁路困局？带着疑问，我们走进了中国中铁二院巴基斯坦既有铁路ML-1线升级改造工程项目指挥部的驻地。

驻地位于拉合尔市一处僻静的小路，两层的小楼，是这个平均年龄只有30多岁的设计团队生活及工作的地方。出于安保考虑，成员平日里是不允许单独外出的，他们离开指挥部最常去的地方便是巴业主方的办公室以及项目现场，在这样的环境中，他们一待便是近三年。

“ML-1线属于中巴经济走廊铁路规划项目的一部分，整个铁路规划项目是从中国新疆喀什一路向南到巴基斯坦的卡拉奇，全长大约有2900公里，其中1150公里是新建部分，剩下的都是在既有铁路的基础上进行升级改造。ML-1线升级改造是巴基斯坦铁路建设史上最大的铁路项目，是中国铁路‘走出去’历史上由外方出资委托我国咨询设计的最长铁路项目。”80后站场专业工程师孙中阳向记者介绍了该项目的背景。

在中巴经济走廊铁路规划项目中，ML-1线就属于既有铁路改造部分。改造将分为两期，其中1期有6个子项目，2期將有8个子项目。两期项目的工期预计分别为5年，全线提速升级改造完成大约需要10年。

在团队的踏勘中，ML-1线暴露出的问题让设计团队惊愕。虽然在国内已经对线路情况有所了解，但当孙中阳实地走进ML-1线时，实际的情况却比他想的更糟一些。“这条线路能开行上百年，真的已经很不容易了。”有的路段已经被埋在土里，百年的运行让路基病害非常严重，再加上铁路养护维修等没有跟上，这些问题都将是整个升级改造的重中之重。

从孙中阳的口中我们得知，ML-1线的升级改造将在轨道、路基、桥涵、站场、通信、信号及运营维护等方面下大力气，经过改造，将形成时速为160公里/小时或120公里/小时的双线通道。“升级以后的ML-1线，将实现朝发夕至。”行车效率的提高还不能满足铁路的发展，对于线路的运营维护，设计团队还将专门编制一本维护手册。由于ML-1线的所有路段在未来都将成为双线，线路通过能力将得到进一步提升。因此，沿途许多的车站将不再保留。当记者问起拉合尔市那座百年车站是否会保留时，答案在站台得到了揭晓。

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。”

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。

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。泛黄的拉维尔河奔袭着远去，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。

“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。

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。

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。

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。

“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/小时是火車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。

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。

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……

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……

It’s August when Pakistan had already entered into the rainy season and became increasingly sticky. The sun glared down with merciless intensity on every inch of the ground. In the century-old train station of Lahore， the ceiling fan on the mottled roof was spinning feebly but it didn’t bring a touch of coolness to the people coming and going. There were faint train whistles from the distance as a green train slowly docked at the platform， leaving heat waves and dusty sand behind. In an instant as the crowds streamed out of the carriages， there arose another great clamour from the already busy station together with the cries， urging voice and roars.

“After the completion of the line， all the existing level crossings will be closed， and the baggagededicated galleries will be no longer usable in the future. Is it necessary to build a new baggagededicated gallery？” “According to the drawing， the end line is now a place used to park the train. In the future， do we need to make some modification or just leave it as it is？ Has the Pakistani side taken that into consideration？ ” The small VIP room of the railway station kept off the noise from the platform. There was a discussion on the upgrading of the platform and the ML-1 line along the railway line. Such a heated discussion was echoed by the noise of the station. Those hurrying tos-and-fros were still unaware that the century-old railways they were riding were about to be renewed， and in the near future they would enter the railway “high-speed era”.

On the map of Pakistan’s railway distribution， the railway line named ML-1 from the southern city of Karachi to the northern city of Peshawar occupies the most obvious position. With a total length of more than 1，780 kilometers， the railway crosses three of the four major provinces of Pakistan and passes through the most economically developed cities in Pakistan， such as Hyderabad， Multan， Lahore and Islamabad. It can be said that the ML-1 line is the main channel for the north-south transportation of the Pakistani railway， which undertakes the import and export of goods and passenger flow of Pakistan through the port of Karachi. However， the reason why the line is so overburdened today can be traced to the history of the 100-year development of this line.

The construction and transportation history of the ML-1 line is closely related to the construction history of the entire Pakistan railway. On May 13， 1861， the first railway line from Karachi to Kotri was opened to traffic in Pakistan， which was the predecessor of the ML-1 line. Since it was built， Pakistan’s railway transportation represented by the ML-1 line had dominated the land transportation until the 1980s.

Trains from Karachi to Peshawar have been running on the ML-1 line for the past 100 years， during which there has been a lack of effective maintenance and repair due to institutional， financial and management reasons. Thus continuous tinkering wasn’t enough to prevent it from aging. With the continuous decline of capacity and speed， combined with the development of road networks and airways， the freight volume of the whole railway transportation fell to the bottom in 1999. According to the data， in 1999， the passenger volume of the railway in Pakistan made up less than 10% of the total passenger volume， and the freight volume made up only 3% of the total freight volume （excluding ocean transport）. Back on August 4， Hamdan， a transport expert from PIU （Pakistan ML-1 Line Project Implementation Team）， led us to visit Lahore Railway Station and gave a set of data， which showed that the advantages of railway transportation had not been brought into full play， judging from the comparison of the number of passengers per day （14，000-15，000） at the station of Lahore， the second largest city in Pakistan， and the total population and density of the country （200 million）.

“Today， the average operating speed of the ML-1 line can only reach 30-40 km/h， which means it takes more than 30 hours for a journey from Peshawar to Karachi.” In the interview， Basharat， the leader of PIU pointed out that time was the core competitiveness. To develop the economy， it is a must-to-do to solve the problem of speeding-up and upgrading of the ML-1 line and even the entire railway network. How could we deal with such a railway dilemma？ With questions， we walked into the resident of the headquarters of China Railway Second Academy Engineering Group Co.， Ltd， which was in charge of the upgrading project for ML-1 line， one of the existing railways in Pakistan.

The resident is located on a secluded path in Lahore. The two-story building is the place where the design team lives and works with an average age of just over 30. Due to security concerns， members are not allowed to go out alone on weekdays. The most frequent place for them to leave the headquarters is the office of the owners and the project site. In such an environment， they have stayed for nearly three years.

“The ML-1 line is part of the railway planning project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. In the project， the railway is designed to be built from Kashgar， in Xinjiang， China all the way south to Karachi in Pakistan. The total length of the railway is about 2，900km， of which 1，150km are newly built and the rest are upgraded on the basis of existing railways. The upgrading of the ML-1 line is the largest railway project in the history of Pakistan’s railway construction， and the longest railway project commissioned by the foreign party to entrust China’s consultation and design in the history of ‘China Railway Going Global’，” Sun Zhongyang， a field professional engineer born after the eighties， introduced the background of the project to the reporter.

In the railway planning project of the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor， the ML-1 line is part of the existing railway reconstruction. The transformation will be divided into two phases， with 6 sub-projects in Phase 1 and 8 sub-projects in Phase 2. The construction period of the two projects is expected to be both 5 years， and it will take about 10 years to complete the speeding up and upgrading transformation of the line.

During the team’s exploration， the problems exposed in the ML-1 line also made the design team stunned. Although Sun Zhongyang already knew something about the route at home， the on-the-spot investigation of the ML-1 line made him realize that the actual situation was worse than he thought. “It is really not easy for this line to operate for a hundred years.” Some road sections have been buried in the soil. The roadbed has been too over-strained for being in operation for a hundred years， compounded by a lack of maintenance and repair of the railway. These problems will be the top priority of the whole upgrading and reconstruction.

From Sun Zhongyang’s description， we know that great efforts will be made for the the upgrading and reconstruction of ML-1 line in track， roadbed， bridge and culvert， station yard， communication，signal， operation and maintenance， etc. After the transformation， a double-track channel will be formed with a speed of 160 km/h or 120 km/h. “It will be realized to start in the morning and arrive in the evening after the upgrading of ML-1 line.” The improvement of operating efficiency isn’t enough to meet the development of the railway. A maintenance manual will also be specially prepared by the design team for the operation and maintenance of the line. As all sections of the ML-1 line will become double tracks in the future， the capacity of the line will be further improved. Therefore， many stations along the way will not be retained. When the reporter asked if the 100-year-old station in Lahore would be retained， the answer was revealed on the platform.

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”.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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...

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.