Karachi ‘to be made freight headquarters’: Sheikh Rasheed

Sheikh Rashid promises to increase number of freight trains to promote business

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said that Karachi, being the country’s business hub, will be made freight headquarters of the Pakistan Railways.

Speaking at a press conference in Lahore on Saturday, the minister said that converting Karachi into the railways’ sub-headquarters would facilitate businessmen.

Criticising the performance of previous governments, he said that over the past few years, no improvement was witnessed in the freight sector. Over the past 12 years, the number of freight trains remained unchanged, he said.

Rashid promised to increase the number of freight trains and said that their frequency would be increased from 10 to 15 in the next four months.

He said that three new trains would start operating from the next month. A new train, he added, would operate between Lahore and Faisalabad from October 1 while Mohenjo Daro Express and Rohri Express would commence operations from October 16.

Pledging more facilities for passengers, he said that all reservation offices at the divisional headquarters would remain open till midnight instead of 8pm. From December 30 onwards, reservation offices would remain open all day without any interruptions, he said.

The minister said that the railways station at Golra had been offered to private partners, adding that they should take over the station and convert it into a food street and a picnic spot.

“Tenders for providing clean drinking water and other facilities will soon be floated,” he said.

Rashid said that Main Line-I and Main Line-II were crucial for the country. The ML-I, he said, would cater to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, while the ML-II would be offered to private investors on BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) basis.

He said that the railways committee for investment would meet every Thursday to welcome all investors. He said he wanted to sell two to three railways’ plots in Lahore and Karachi to overcome the deficit.

The minister said even though the railways was facing a shortage of 23,000 employees, it urgently needed 10,000 workers. A summary had already been sent to the Prime Minister for approval in this regard, he said, adding that recruitments would be made on merit.

Rashid said that people had responded positively after the railways introduced new trains and on an average, nearly 600 passengers were travelling on the newly-introduced routes every day.

Answering a question, he said that railways was faced with a deficit of Rs38 billion.