Mandra-Chakwal railway line may be revived: Sh Rashid

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Wednesday assured Senator Abdul Qayyum that the revival of much-talked about 100 years old Mandra-Chakwal Railway Line was under active consideration and he expected positive results

The minister said this here at the Parliament House during a meeting with PML-N Senator in response to his latest letter sent to the Ministry of Railways on the subject in which it was highlighted that subject Railway Line was an urgent need for a large number of population including students, patients, business people and poor masses commuting on daily bases between Rawalpindi

and Chakwal district. Besides, Senator Qayyum informed the minister that the precious Railway land of 12 railway stations and 75 km long railway line was still 99 percent intact but was now being encroached upon rapidly.

“Besides, thousands of trucks of four cement factories’ are playing havoc with already frail road infrastructure. Cement factory owners may also contribute to get a rail extension to their respective factories and this will help generate increased income for the department,” the Senator said while talking to The News.

Public pressure in this context, he pointed out, was mounting because Shiekh Rashid had committed to revive this line in his previous tenure when he was minister during the tenure of General ® Musharraf. He noted the railway authorities had also committed to honour this pledge and that was why the Supreme Court had recently summoned them for contempt.

Earlier, in a letter to the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he had noted that thousands of acres of Pakistan Railways land and dozens of railway stations were being encroached with impunity.

The legislator explained that with the increase in its population, Chakwal had developed to the extent that it bordered with Rawalpindi, Rawat and Mandra and that the revival of the train service would be handy in many ways and help contain environmental issues as well.