The punctuality of train operation from Karachi has shown considerable improvement during the last couple of months with almost all the trains, except one or two, running on time. The couple of trains which were facing late departures of about half an hour to two hours was because of certain unavoidable reasons, said Karachi Railway Divisional Superintendent Anzer Ismail Rizvi. He was of the view that punctuality was achieved due to strict monitoring of train operation and motivation which resulted in improved maintenance of locomotives, coaches, and signaling system as well railway track in the division. He said that notwithstanding the ongoing financial crunch, the Railways Divisional authorities achieved the outstanding result within their own resources. He pointed out that 57.5 kilometres of speed restrictions had now been normalised without spending any money, thus resulting in running of trains on normal speed. He said that the Railway Division was at present operating 42 locomotives, adding that their maintenance had been improved considerably, thus bringing normalcy in train operation. It also resulted in operating on an average two freight trains daily from Karachi, he said. He further said that the Railway Division earned Rs 346 million in excess during the last six months of the current financial year as compared to the same period of last financial year. Regarding future programmes, the Karachi Railway DS informed that efforts were being made to re-introduce Mehran Express which was a popular mode of journey from Karachi to Mirpurkhas and which was earlier closed due to non-availability of locomotives. He said that a railway track from Karachi to Kotri had been rehabilitated, while work on down track was in progress, adding that the developments had brought improvement in the speed and running time of the trains. The track rehabilitation from Hyderabad to Mirpurkhas was also in progress and would be completed in about six months, after which the running time between the two destinations would be reduced by bringing it down from 90 to 60 minutes.
Train operation schedule from Karachi shows improvement
