Pakistan Railways is putting in maximum effort to complete the rehabilitation of a 33.5km track through sleeper renewal between Quetta-Bostan and Quetta-Chaman sections soon. According to an official source in the Railways ministry, the renewed track will not only facilitate passengers and small businessmen, but it will also connect three major cities of the province.
The overall length of the railway track in Balochistan is 1470.36 kilometres, including the closed Bostan-Zhob section. Most of the track is over a hundred years old, and engineering speed restrictions have been imposed on certain stretches due to deferred maintenance and resource constraints. The routine maintenance of the track is being carried out with available resources.
To improve railway services in Balochistan, the department is taking several steps, including approving the PC-I for the track and rehabilitating another 100-km track between Ahmedwal Dalbadin on Quetta-Taftan section. Additionally, the rehabilitation of the 160.024 km track between Bostan-Chaman on the Quetta-Chaman section will be carried out.
The source noted that two tourist train trips had been started between Quetta-Bostan, while the Bolan Mail passenger train would also be operational soon to facilitate passengers. The establishment of Chaman Terminal in collaboration with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the track renewal of the Sibi-Khost section is also in progress.
Responding to a question, the source confirmed that Pakistan Railways had suffered losses worth over Rs150 billion during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 28th, 2023.
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