- President to inaugurate the train
- Minister says Karachi to Peshawar, Quetta to Taftan railway projects under the pipeline
- Urges overseas Pakistanis, foreign investors to invest in various railway projects
- Considers railway-network’s expansion a major component of CPEC
KARACHI: Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Tuesday announced that a special train will be run from Karachi to Dhabeji to ensure comfortable, fast, secure and less expensive movement of workers between Karachi and this border town of Thatta district located at the National Highway.
This announcement was made by the minister during a press conference at a local hotel. He further said that the train will be inaugurated by President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday.
Pakistan Railways General Manager Aftab Akbar and Divisional Superintendent Karachi Arshad Salam Khattak were also present with the minister on the occasion of this press conference.
It was further announced that on the first day of the starting of the train, the travel would be absolutely free.
Following that, the fare would start from Rs25. However, Pakistan Railways would offer a monthly travelling pass to the workers at a subsidised rate. It would cost Rs22 per day to a worker.
This nine-bogie train would start at 6: 15 A.M from Dhabeji and at 7:00 A.M from Karachi.
He said this is a gift to the working class from Prime Minister Imran Khan, which would make their life easier and along with a positive financial impact.
The Ministry of Railways would provide full support to Karachi Circular Railways project for its timely execution and successful operation, he assured.
The minister said a fast track train between Karachi and Hyderabad would also be started soon. Later on, this service would be expanded to Sukkur. Another train from Karachi to Sukkur would be run shortly.
The government has also planned to run service and time efficient Rehman Baba train between Karachi and Peshawar, as the existing train service has lost its value, Sheikh Rasheed said, adding that the number of freight trains would be increased to 15 as Pakistan Railways could only be profitable when its freight service would be strengthened and upgraded.
The plan to run fast track train between Quetta and Taftan was also shared by the minister for which a regional headquarters of the Pakistan Railways would be set up in Quetta. The WiFi service has also been provided at all seven divisional headquarters to facilitate the passengers.
He said the government would welcome private investment, specially for freight trains service.
Overseas Pakistanis and foreign investors are interested to invest in Pakistan Railways’ new projects including the running of trains and development or replacing the tracks, he opined. In phases, all the railway tracks would be replaced with much better tracks meeting the international standards, the Railways minister stated.
“We are offering private parties to come up with freight trains. Pay only rent of tracks and signals to the government,” he said.
The better railways network is vital for the success of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the present government is giving due importance to its up-gradation and development, he said. The target was to run the trains at 160 km/hour speed, he stated.
When his attention was drawn to unmanned railways crossings leading to accidents, he said there are over 1000 unmanned crossings. For the safety of the people and to save Pakistan Railways land from encroachment, fencing would be done on a permanent basis throughout across the country.
The Minister said he is going to China with the Prime Minister on November 1, where detailed discussions would be made with Chinese authorities on railways matters including procurement of new engines through open bidding.
The federal minister for Railways resolved that he would increase the earning of Pakistan Railways by Rs10 billion in one year and it would be brought out of the loss in this period.
He also vowed to get all railways land clear from encroachers to what extent they might be influential.
In Dhabeji, a special economic zone is being developed under CPEC by the Sindh government.
