Economic Coordination Council (ECC) is likely to resolve the issue of Rs 290 million liabilities by Pak-Business Express (PBE) towards Pakistan Railways for using the national carrier’s infrastructure and networks for operating its trains, by the start of January 2013, Pakistan today learnt through reliable sources. According to sources, the decision of the ECC is expected to bring some life into Pakistan Railways which is facing a severe financial crisis. The PBE is liable to pay Pakistan Railways an estimated amount of Rs 3.1 million daily on account of using their services and infrastructure, whereas its management has defaulted on several occasions, expressing lower than optimum capacity rate as their major reason. In October 2012, Pakistan Railways General Manager Operations Junaid Qureshi issued a notice of forced discontinuation of PBE operations until the liabilities were settled. The case was later referred to the ECC. The outsourcing of Night Coach to Shalimar Group, initially for five years on a bid of Rs 631.95m with investment of Rs 81.838 m in account of Value Added Services and Rs 1.731m for each train journey, will also prove a major financial support for Pakistan Railways, as an advanced deposit of Rs 100 m for the repair of locomotives would be made.
ECC to decide on ‘Business Express’ by next week
