Federal Minister for Railways, Mian Shamim Haider on Wednesday has said the government is fully alive to resolve the problems related with the transport system and to control the scenario of growing congestion in the cities.
He was addressing the two-day international seminar on 'Rail-based urban transport systems for principal Pakistani cities' here, which was jointly organised by the Pakistan Railways (PR) and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Pakistan.
The Minister said that as first step the Ministry of Railways was working closely with the City District Government of Karachi (CDGK) to revive Circular Railway here. Similar systems for cities of Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad were required to be planned, he added.
Shamim Haider said a combined system of road and rail provided the optimal solution to the metropolitan mobility.
He said the railway was efficient, comfortable, comparatively safer mode of transportation and causes minimal pollution, adding for that reason, the major world cities were using rail in their transit systems.
Appreciating the CILT efforts, he said its expertise and advice would be of immense help to the planners and decision-makers.
The Minister said the seminar would provide a direction for planning a comprehensive system for major cities, adding the recommendations of the seminar would prove helpful to the Ministry of Railways, Planning Commission and the other concerned public and private agencies.
Earlier, Railways Secretary and Chairman Malik Asif Hayat in his welcome address apprised the objectives of the seminar.
PR Manufacturing and Services General Manager, Major General (retired) Hamid Hasan Butt informed the audience about the steps taken by the department to provide maximum facilities to the passengers.
Representatives from China, France, Sweden and Russia are attending the two-day seminar and would also read out papers on the topic.
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