Rail travel: Train passengers to be insured

Minister says a scheme for employees is also being considered.

LAHORE: The Pakistan Railways on Saturday signed an agreement with the Postal Life Insurance to provide insurance plans to its passengers. A ceremony held at the PR Headquarters for the purpose was attended by the Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, PR General Manager (Operations) Javed Anwar Boobak and Postal Life Insurance General Manager Nasir Hassan.

Hassan informed the gathering that families of the plan holders would qualify for Rs800,000 in case of their death during the journey. He said injuries suffered during a journey could get compensation up to Rs300,000 under the plan.

Rafique hoped that the scheme would benefit the passengers by insuring them against unforeseen incidents during their journeys. He said the agreement was initially signed for three years but could be extended for another two years.

He said the PR management would soon initiate a life insurance scheme for its employees as well. He said a final decision in this regard would be taken after consulting Postal Life, State Life as well as companies offering life insurance schemes.

The minister said that PR had started preparing its recommendations for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the upcoming fiscal year. He said the Railways had also signed an agreement with the Urban Unit for computerization of its land record.

He added that housing schemes would soon be launched for Railways’ workers. He added that development work was already underway on land owned by the public enterprise for the purpose. He said the department was also working to increase its revenue from operations.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2015.