The second inter-ministerial meeting on improvement of rail connectivity with Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Bin Qasim ((BQM) and Gwadar was held on Tuesday at Ministry of Railways, Islamabad. Parveen Agha, chairperson, Ministry of Railways, said that Pakistan Railways (PR) is repositioning for CPEC as KPT is quite important for the connectivity. While chairing the meeting she claimed that there is substantial increase in line capacity of Main Line-1, said a press release.
It was proposed in the meeting that railway tracks' extension shall be stretched to the pilot gate of KPT. This track will be adjacent to Karachi International Container Terminal (KICT). KPT also raised the issue of condemned wagons. According to PR, condemned wagons are being cleared on priority and so far 179 out of 525 condemned wagons have been cleared. It was decided that South Asia Pakistan Terminal Limited (SAPT) has to furnish vertical and horizontal coordinates for laying 1.1 km long track. It was proposed by KICT to lend its Bolan gate to SAPT for convenience. It was told that scrap alongside the track has been cleared and now full length trains are being placed for loading of coal/phosphate at Keamari. The loading of containers from inside Pakistan International Container Terminal (PICT) came under discussion. Although right of way inside PICT is not established yet loading from inside the terminal has been started recently through coordination among PR, KPT and PICT. KPT also assured that rehabilitation of Railway yards inside KPT will be carried out. The rail connectivity with Pakistan International Bulk Terminal (PIBT) at Port Qasim was also discussed. PIBT is interested in setting up state of the art freight station for Pakistan Railways.
The meeting was attended by Mumtaz Ali Shah Secretary Maritime Affairs, Asif Hammad General Manager KPT, Syed Rashid Jamil Chief Executive Officer SAPT, Horace Hui Chief Executive Officer KICT and Khurram Khan Chief Executive Officer PICT. Agha Waseem, Syed Munawar Shah, Syed Mazhar Ali Shah and Basharat Waheed represented Ministry of Railways.-PR
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