Pakistan Railways (PR) has signed an agreement with a private company (Four Brother) to operate a Business Train between Lahore and Karachi under private-public partnership first time in the history of Pak rail. Federal Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmad Bilour was the chief guest in the signing ceremony at Railways Headquarters and expressed hope about the good future of the public utility.
The passenger train between the capitals of Punjab and Sindh would become operational within four months and that the international facilities would be introduced for the passengers who would travel by the Business Train. As per agreement documents, Four Brothers International (Pvt) Limited would invest Rs 225.786 million in the joint venture.
The Company would pay Rs 1.573 million per single journey and Rs 1.148 billion per annum to Pakistan Railways at 88 per cent of the carrying capacity of the Business Train, the agreement read. The media was informed that the train would cover the distance between Lahore and Karachi in 18 hours while the time limit would later be reduced to 15 hours after the completion of repair work on track and signals.