Pakistan railways is getting an upgrade; thanks to China's billions

Along with decades of under-investment, the rail company has also suffered from ingrained graft

Just a pledge from China to help upgrade Pakistan’s train network has prompted authorities in the South Asian nation to overhaul its colonial-era rail infrastructure.

For software businessman Farrukh Malik, the change was palpable. As he clambered aboard the 22-hour express service from coastal Karachi to the northern capital, Islamabad, Malik, 40, said he’d been a passenger on the line since he was a child. “The introduction of trains like Green Line which has lesser stops and runs strictly as per schedule is a great difference,”’ he said as the train whistled to announce its 10 p.m. scheduled departure.

Beijing