As train operations remain partially suspended owing to flooding of tracks, private transport operators have increased intercity fares to fleece stranded passengers.
Railway operations have been suspended between Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Karachi as a result of flooding of tracks in southern Punjab and Sindh.
Private transporters in Rawalpindi have started demanding exorbitant rates from travellers heading to different cities including Karachi and Hyderabad.
Private transporters charge between Rs6,000 and Rs7,000 for a single trip from Rawalpindi to Karachi.Passengers going to Karachi said that touts of transporters roam at the Rawalpindi railway station and offer their services.
Travellers who need to go immediately were compelled to accept their offer.
These touts of transporters take them to bus stations at Faizabad, Pirwadhai, Peshawar Mor and Sadar for booking. Passengers at Pirwadhai bus stand, Gul Khan and Masoom Jan said that buses charge Rs6,000 for a single trip from Rawalpindi to Karachi.
They said that passengers were compelled to pay the high fares as trains were not operating.
Transporter Mahmood Bashir said: "We are putting our lives and our vehicles in danger by riding stranded passengers to their homes safely as train and other transport services have been shut down for the past 10 days.“All passengers board vehicles willingly. "We never compel anyone to do so. Passengers have their own compulsions but transporters are serving the passengers by risking their own lives at risk to reach them to their destinations safely,” he said.
Pakistan Railway sources said that the train service between Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi was expected to be restored in the next 48 hours.
Pakistan Railways has partially suspended its operations as heavy rains and floods continue to pummel different parts of he country.
Earlier, Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique, while addressing a press conference, said that they have suspended operations because of the
importance of the passengers’ lives.He said that due to floods, the department has suffered a loss of Rs10 billion.
The minister said that they have decided to close a part of ML-1, whereby the operations of the passenger trains will be partially suspended.
Similarly, he added, train operations between Lahore and Karachi have been stopped.He further said that the train running from Peshawar will be limited to Multan while the train operations between Khanpur and Hyderabad will remain suspended.
He added that railway tracks are inundated with rainwater.In June, local transporters in Rawalpindi and Islamabad had jacked up the intra-city fare by up to Rs20 without waiting for the official nod.
Transporters running hiaces and mini-wagons between the twin cities have increased the fare from Rs30 to Rs50. Local transporters including mini-busses, wagons and Suzuki pick-ups in Rawalpindi have increased stop-to-stop fare from Rs20 to Rs30, an increase of Rs10 in one week.
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