Back on track: Train service from Pindi to Kohat restored

KOHAT:

The Pakistan Railways resumed its operations from Kohat to Rawalpindi on Tuesday after being suspended since September 2011.

The railway faced a shortage of locomotives and financial difficulties, which was the main cause for disruption.

The federal minister for railways, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, inaugurated train services at the Rawalpindi station on Tuesday afternoon.

The station master, Kohat Moin, told The Express Tribune that the train left for Kohat at around 3:15pm and reached its destination at 7:05pm. More than 300 people were present at the platform to receive the passengers, he said. The train will leave for Kohat at 3:30pm every day.

“The fare of the car is low as compared to the bus fare from Kohat to Rawalpindi,” Moin said, adding that more than 200 passengers can travel daily. “This rail car will run on air brakes and the speed of the train will be constant even after carrying five to seven coaches.”

One-way tickets will cost Rs170 compared to the Rs400 bus fares to Rawalpindi. “We have decided to attract more and more passengers to travel by train,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2012.