Plan to run six trains amid suspension on the cards

Railways minister will make the announcement after PM’s approval

The railway authorities plan to run six passenger trains between Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar after suspending countrywide operations till March 31 to stem the spread of coronavirus infections.

The schedule for the trains has been sent to Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid, who will make the announcement after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s approval.

These trains stop for 25 minutes at major stations including Karachi, Lahore and Rohri and for 10 minutes at smaller ones.

On March 24 as COVID-19 cases continued to increase, all passenger trains were suspended.

It is unclear as to how will the railway authorities ensure the required precautionary measures on the six trains they plan to run amid the viral outbreak. The seats are located in close proximity to one another and passengers will be exposed to the risk of contracting the disease.

The Sindh government is also unlikely to endorse the decision as the trains were suspended after it had requested the Centre to halt their operations in the province to help it curb the spread of the virus.

Earlier on March 21, the railways minister had announced the suspension of 42 trains by April 1 to restrict the transmission of the coronavirus pandemic.

The suspended trains included Khushhal Express, Akbar Express, Sindh Express, Ravi Express, Shah Latif Express and Rohi Express, Jinnah Express, Bolan Express, Moenjodaro Express, Thal Express, Marvi Express, Samman Shakir Express, Faisalabad Express, Musa Pak Express and Chenab Express.

The minister said that the Pakistan Railway had refunded Rs800 million to the passengers so far on account of the suspension of the trains. “However, the passengers have been given the option to either take a refund or avail the ticket on another train in the same class,” he added.

The Pakistan Railways operates 142 trains on its 1,885-kilometre-long track to ferry some 700 million passengers every year, which means that some 200,000 people travel by trains every day. However, because of the coronavirus spread, the number had declined.

“Due to the current situation the number has declined to 165,000 passengers per day,” the minister said, adding that the suspension of the 42 trains would inflict a financial loss of Rs2.35 billion.

However, he still appealed to the passengers to avoid unnecessary travel and stay at home.

According to APP, the Pakistan Railways has suffered around Rs410 million losses in train accidents from August 2018 to December 2019.

It will revamp the existing railway infrastructure through Main Line-I project under China-

Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which would transform the overall organisation and ensure safety of the travelling public.