After months long closure, rail service will be resumed partially on Wednesday but on the condition that standard operating procedures (SOPs) are adhered to as the country battles the novel coronavirus. Speaking at a presser, the Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had allowed to "partially resume train service from May 20 on the condition that the SOPs were adhered to as the country was yet to overcome the challenge of coronavirus".
"No one will be allowed inside the stations without having a ticket. Nearly 7,000 police officers have been deployed at [the stations in] Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, and Quetta and an emergency has been imposed," he added.
Ahmad continued that police officials would ensure that people did not enter stations without tickets, adding divisional head would be held responsible in case of violation of the SOPs and strict action would be taken against them.
He said a rehearsal had been scheduled at all the stations from Tuesday (today).
"If the conditions remain stable during the current month, all train services will be resumed across the country from June 1st," said Ahmad.
"I am grateful to Lt Gen Muhammad Afzal [NDMA chairman], Asad Umar [Federal Minister for Planning and Development], Hafeez Shaikh [Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue], for their help in resuming the train service," he added.
The railways minister said that he would visit Peshawar on May 19th to review the measures taken, while day after tomorrow he would see off the green line train.
He said that he would also review the situation at other train stations as well to "ensure" that the SOPs and other safety measures were being followed.
"I have no differences with the provinces in this regard," he said, adding: "We will need their support outside the railway stations."
The railways minister informed that there was no age restriction for the passengers and that he was supervising all the procedures himself.
"We suffered a loss of Rs5 billion per month due to the closure of train services," he said.
There have been no changes in the freight rate, he said, while noting that India had doubled the fare.
"We have not reduced the fares because the number of passengers has been cut down but by 50 per cent," he said.
Ahmad refuted the rumors about a "conspiracy" being hatched against the federal government, and said: "You should ask those who came here for conspiring and now their name is in the blacklist, and will be soon on exit control list (ECL)."
He said that the political atmosphere of the country would change after Eidul Fitr.
"I do not expect a change in the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance and even if there is one, I won't support it."
Later in the day, Sindh Transport Minister Awais Shah said Monday's decision to resume train services was taken without consulting the southern province, and demanded that Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid should resign, if the SOPs were not followed.
"We are not against resumption of train services [...] If the institution is facing a loss, will it be compensated with the lives of the people?"
Shah added that there was a "contradiction" in the railways minister's statements.
Talking about the inter-city transport, he said that the government was in talks with the transporters in that regard.
"Several sectors have been reopened without taking Sindh into confidence," he added.
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