Like the extra-section flights which airlines usually operate in cases of growing rush of passengers, Pakistan Railway is also operating an extra train from Karachi to Rawalpindi to accommodate passengers destined for upcountry in view of suspension in PIA flight operation.
Two private sector airlines - Airblue and Shaheen - carried maximum number of passengers who waited at the airport to fly to their upcountry destinations in the wake of non-availability of PIA flights, which suffered delays and cancellations because of strike by ground engineers. Airblue, the second major airline of Pakistan, operated extra sections to transport passengers for upcountry destinations since November 1.
Still, hundreds of passengers were stranded due to non-availability of seats even in Airblue and Shaheen airlines flights. All such passengers rushed to Karachi City and Cantonment Stations to catch trains for their onward journey.
As a result all 27 Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Faisalabad and Quetta bound trains were fully booked and railway had to operate an extra service from Karachi to Rawalpindi.
The extra section train is scheduled to leave Karachi Cantonment Station for Rawalpindi at 2300 hours, Divisional Superintendent Mir Mohammed Khaskheli told APP. According to Khaskheli all major trains like Tezgam, Korakoram, Karachi Express etc are running full to their capacity with only few seats available in trains like Sindh Express, Bhambhore Express, Khyber Mail etc.