Amid Covid surge, PR not to ply Eid trains

Railways says passenger numbers dwindling in the wake of coronavirus pandemic

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Railways may see its financial woes compounded as it cancelled all special trains on the occasion of Eidul Fitr because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

According to a statement, the railway management said that less number of passengers were opting for the train journey during Eid after the government enforced stricter restrictions to control the pandemic.

The special Eid trains are an annual feature of the railways. Several trains used to ferry hundreds of thousands of passengers on Eidul Fitr and Eidul Azha, to and from different cities of the country. The railways used to get hefty revenues by operating the special Eid trains.

However, a sudden surge in Covid-19 cases coupled with smart lockdowns in several cities have disrupted even the routine train service, therefore, the railways authorities are forced to cancel several trains because of dwindling numbers of the passengers.

Sources said that the railway administration has to cancel several trains between Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi and Peshawar on a daily basis, after adjusting passengers of one to two trains in a single train.

So far no significant bookings have been made on trains that run daily between Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi just two weeks before Eid.