Pak Business Express might derail under financial stress

The train’s private owners owe Rs25m to Pakistan Railways.

Just weeks after it was launched with much fanfare, the Pakistan Business Express appears to have derailed on its route to continuity.

The train, which was a first-of-its-kind public-private venture, has defaulted on Rs25 million which the private company, M/S Four Brothers, owes to Pakistan Railways under the agreement.

Railways Chairman Arif Azim said that the Pakistan Railways will be heavily criticised if the train project is shelved while Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour said that the agreement was tilted in the railways favour.

The Pak Business Express, which was launched on February 3 by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, travels between Lahore and Karachi, for 5,000 rupees one way or 9,000 rupees return ticket.