Azadi Train leaves Peshawar for Karachi

Independence Day

PESHAWAR: The Azadi Train, a customised train prepared in connection with the Independence Day, left the Peshawar Cantonment Railway Station for Karachi on Friday.

Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Inayatullah and Pakistan Railways authorities saw off the train that left Peshawar at about 11:20am. Tight security measures were taken around the railway station on the occasion.

The special train left Rawalpindi station on August 11 and reached Peshawar the same day at about 4pm. The train has been prepared by about 200 employees in 25 days, said a railway employee.

Talking to The News, Umar Riaz, Divisional Transportation Officer and Focal Person for Cantt Railway Station, said the train depicts various cultures of Pakistan and would reach the port city of Karachi on September 5.

The special, travelling at a speed of about 50 kilometres per hour, carries cultural floats and galleries having portraits of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistani Movement and Inter-Services Public Relations photos.

According to the schedule, the train will stay overnight at various stations, including Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sahiwal, Multan, Samma Sata, Sukkur, Sibi, Quetta, Nawabshah, Hyderabad, Karachi, Larkana and Jacobabad.

The Azadi train is a customised train prepared jointly by the Pakistan Railways, Ministry of Information Broadcasting and National Heritage and Inter-Services Public Relations. The train would carry 18 coaches, of which six have floats projecting the culture of four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir; six coaches house art galleries.A Peshawarite at the ceremony, Jawad Ahmad, said that he had brought children to the venue and they enjoyed it much.