Pakistan stands second in terms of operating public railway network in South Asia which now totals nearly 80,000kms in the region, a new World Bank report says.
By the end of 2019, Pakistan has 7,700kms of operating network followed by Bangladesh with nearly 3,000kms and 1,500kms in Sri Lanka. The Indian network is by far the largest with 67,000kms, estimates the report.
The current railway network in South Asia comprised of four countries: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Three of the four railways covered for South Asia comprised parts of the same system until Indian independence in 1947. Since then, they have all continued as, effectively, government departments under the control of a ministry of railways.
In Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the entire operating network is now 1,676 millimeters, but both Bangladesh and India still have a small amount of meter-gauge rail.
