Railways plans small trains in Quetta

Minister for Railways Senator Azam Khan Swati Thursday said efforts were underway to run small trains inside Quetta to facilitate the common man.

Briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Railways, he said Pakistan Railways was going to run trains for Quetta through outsourcing in which all railway operations except track and operation would be outsourced.

It was revealed that since June 7, 2021, there had been 39 railway accidents.

During the meeting, the Senate Standing Committee on Railways reviewed the report on railway accidents occurred after June 2021, their nature, causes and steps taken by the Railways to avoid such accidents in the future and sought the inquiry report of Ghotki train accident on June 7, 2021.

Read: Three children die in school bus, train collision

The committee also reviewed the report on implementation of recommendations of previous committee meetings on June 21 and August 12, 2021.

The Secretary Railways informed the committee that the Bolan Express would start from December 1 this year. He said that 90 per cent work had been completed in Harnai and Sibi sectors. The Quetta to Chaman train was also running weekly and would also start Zahedan train from Quetta, whereas Akbar Bugti Express was suspended for 3 months. The secretary informed the committee that two new trains would be operational for Quetta after the arrival of new coaches. In the committee meeting, the Secretary Railways said that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project would be completed in a period of 8 and half years.

Senator Naseebullah Baazi said that in 1998 Pakistan Railways used to run a night train from Quetta to Karachi which was now closed. As per the directions of the committee, the steps taken for the re[1]habilitation of Khanpur track from Sukkur, the Secretary Railways said that PC-1 of the Rs30 billion project had been approved and work on it would start soon.