88 per cent income of Business Train to go to Railways

About 88 per cent of the income of the Pak Business Train, to be launched from Feb 3 in private-public partnership, would go to Pakistan Railways. The train, having American locomotives, will depart daily from Karachi at 3.30 pm and reach Lahore in 18 hours. The same will be the time duration for the train departing from Lahore. “We will pay 88 per cent of the seating capacity (486 seats per coach) to Pakistan Railways and retain the remaining income,” Mian Shafqat Ali, director, Pak Business Train told Profit. Mian Shafqat Ali is in Karachi for the last one week to oversee the arrangements to launch non-stop train service from Feb 3. “Whether we earn or not according to the capacity, we will pay 88 per cent amount of 486 seats per train to Pakistan Railways.
Annually we will pay Rs1.20 billion to Pakistan Railways under this private-public partnership venture,” he said. The agreement is for five years, but it is extendable for another five years, he added. He, however, said general public’s response to Pak Business Train service was very encouraging and at some stage his company could ask Railways to increase the number of coaches to accommodate growing number of passengers.
When questioned that whether or not 12 per cent of the train’s income was enough for his company, he said: “Our primary purpose is to provide a better traveling culture and facility to the people and not to earn money.” “Secondly, the foreign investors were not willing to make any deal with government and our company took the initiative to start private-public partnership with Pakistan Railways to extend it support and to improve traveling facilities,” he said. “When Pakistani companies will make investment in state-run entities, foreigners would also take initiatives and make investment here,” Mian Shafqat added. He said the coaches of Pakistan Railways have been upgraded to make the journey convenient for the passengers and his company would install LCDs and other facilities to provide entertainment to the passengers. He was optimistic that Pak Business Train venture would not only enhance image of Pakistan Railways, but also improve its earnings.
The private sector company Four Brothers invested Rs226 million in the business train, which consists of nine coaches; nine air conditioned coaches. Pakistan Railways and Four Brothers International Private Limited signed an agreement on August 18, 2011 to operate the train between the capitals of Punjab and Sindh. One-way ticket costs Rs5,000 while two-way ticket would be provided at Rs9,000 with discount of Rs1,000. Online booking facility is also available on the website of the company www.pakbusinessexpress.com and people can get their seats booked through internet anywhere from the world. Each cabin, having six seats, will have an LCD television, charging points for laptop, mobile and other devices.