Transforming railways into profit generating entity top priority: minister

KARACHI: Federal Minister for Railways Muhammad Azam Khan Swati said that provision of safest journey and transforming Pakistan Railways into a profit generating entity were his top policy objectives and all efforts were underway to double the revenue generation of the department.

A statement released from DS Karachi office said that minister expressed these views Wednesday while talking to media at Hyderabad Railways station during a day-long visit of multiple railways’ installations in Hyderabad and Kotri cities.

The railways’ minister inspected the track at Hyderabad station by motor trolley and was given detailed presentations of the facilities he visited.

The minister visited the Carriage and Wagons workshop, spread over an area of 35 acres, in Hyderabad and disbursed cheques having cumulative worth of Rs1.42 million among 284 employees of workshop at Rs5,000 each over their performance in maintenance of wagons.

The said workshop is an additional facility besides Moghulpura setup and contributes significantly in fitness of rolling stock for freight trains that otherwise would have been sent to Lahore at the expense of time and oil consumption.

The railways minister was holistically apprised of the drainage plan being carried out by PR Headquarters to rid the Hyderabad station and other installations from inundation during the heavy spells of rainfall.

The federal minister had a meeting with Hyderabad-based federal and provincial legislators affiliated with MQM at Railways’ rest house. Issues pertaining to Railways in Hyderabad city were extensively discussed along with exploring their probable solutions.

The federal minister also visited Kotri station, Kotri shed and sleeper factory in the afternoon where he listened the complaints of employees.

He directed the relevant officers for resolving the matters at the earliest. The minister was accompanied by AGM Infrastructure Asif Mateen Zaidi, AGM Mechanical Salman Sadiq, Chief Engineer Open Line Arshad Salam Khattak, Divisional Superintendent Karachi Muhammad Hanif Gul, Director General Property and Lands Hafeezullah and relevant divisional officers.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021