PR to operate 10 more passenger trains: minister

The Pakistan Railways administration has decided to operate 10 more passenger trains across the country, taking the total number of operational trains to 40.
Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmad announced this during a press conference at the Railways Headquarters here on Saturday.
He said 15 Up and 15 Down trains were already running while five UP and five Down trains will be inducted in the operational fleet including Sir Syed Express, Shalimar Express, Bahauddin Zakariya Express, Karachi Express and Railcar from Lahore to Rawalpindi.
The minister claimed that the Bahawalpur railway station would be inaugurated this month and Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar had been taken into confidence in this regard.
He thanked the journalists and administrations of all four provinces for their cooperation in operating the trains with 60 per cent occupancy.
Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said that PRACS had also been given permission to sell tickets besides the online system due to the burden on the online system, adding that police had also been directed to ensure social distancing policy in queues for tickets at the booking centres.
The minister assured the nation that safety measures would be taken in letter and spirit.
He admitted that the railways had been facing a deficit of Rs30 billion to Rs32 billion and the decision of restoration of trains had been taken to facilitate the people of the country.
The minister said that only those railway stations had been made operational which had the facility of conducting COVID-19 tests.
He said that precautionary equipment from China had reached here and after installation of this medical equipment more railway stations would be made functional.
When asked about the Main Line-1 (ML-1) project, he said that Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar had decided to work on PC-1 of the project.
He said after the ML-1 project, the issue of tracks would be resolved, and tracks on the branch lines would also be improved.
He said that no PR employee would be sacked, adding that 100,000 jobs would be offered under the ML-1 project.
He said the ML-1 was the lifeline of the railways which would also provide accident-free traveling in the future.