Freight train to be designated for Multan: Rashid

MULTAN: Federal Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has announced designating a freight train for Multan and resumption of Thal Express from February 28. He said the train speed would gradually increase to 260-km/hour.

He was addressing the members of chambers of Commerce and Industry of Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rahimyar Khan, Multan Industrial Estate and Multan Dry Port Trust here on Sunday. The meeting was chaired by MCCI president M Sarfraz.

The minister also announced giving the railway sports ground to the local industrialists to make it a recreational park and provision of a freight train against Rs2.3 million per month. He assured of resuming the Shah Rukn-i-Alam Train after the availability of coaches. He said that coaches of Zikiriya Express would be replaced with the new ones. He disclosed that Rehman Baba Express was earning more than other trains and its load is 144 per cent. Similarly, the load of Moenjodaro Express is 200 per cent. A new freight container train from Karachi had been introduced from December 25 and the PRFTC had been given a task to operate three such trains before March 23, 2019, he said.

Ahmed said that the railways was going to install 300 trackers in the trains within 15 days to enable the people to track the trains' position during travelling through the internet. He said that the trackers had been provided to the railways by a local engineer, who is a son of a railway guard.

He said the control room in the headquarters was also being modernised so that the staff could see the position of the trains, and take necessary steps in timely rescuing the passengers in case of any emergency. He claimed that a modern tracking system will help reduce the journey between Lahore and Rawalpindi. “Ticketless travelling is being discouraged and we have recovered Rs60 million from such passengers in a month. Hand-held devices will be provided to the trains' special ticket examiners (STEs) to curb the ticket dodgers.”

The minister disclosed running a VVIP train to facilitate the traders, industrialists, exporters and foreigners. He said that administrations of some five stars hotel had also contacted the railways for running a train, however, the investment committee would decide about it.

“The department is also providing the facility of transporting fertilisers. A complaint cell is being developed at Islamabad which will entertain all complaints besides providing information about the trains. I wish to start a fast train from Rawalpindi to Multan via Muzaffargarh, Kot Adu, Kundian and then Karachi. New train on Multan-Dera Ghazi Khan route will start as soon as we get the coaches,” he said.

Ahmed also vowed to solve the problems of disabled and elderly members, saying elevators and escalators will be installed at the railway stations for their ease. He announced that eight dry ports and 32 railway stations are being upgraded. "We do not have the money to do this ourselves, thus we are inviting private companies to help us. No railway can survive without the freight trains and neither can we." He said the Pakistan Railways owns 15 oil depots to fuel its engines with an annual expenditure of Rs14 billion, which would be enhanced to Rs18 billion. The current management has decided to carry out an immediate audit of all the oil depots and the department will hopefully be able to save Rs1 to 2 billion. He said that the department was spending Rs35 billion on 1,50,000 as and our salary bill is Rs31 billion per annum.

In his welcome address, MCCI president M Sarfraz said that the running time of Mehr Express should be reduced from 16 hours besides providing AC-Sleeper and sleeper coaches. Thal Express should also be resumed on Multan Rawalpindi section via Kundian. Night coaches and fast trains must be rerouted via Multan.

The timing of Lahore-bound trains should be changed. He demanded that Shah Rukn-i-Alam train should be resumed while the bogies of Zikiriya Express must be changed with the modern ones. Quota in all trains should be fixed for the business community and inquiry system must be improved, he demanded.

Chairman of Multan Dry port Trust (MDPT) and president of Multan Industrial Estate Management Board, Khawaja Jalaluddin Roomi stressed the need for construction of overhead bridge or underpass at Nadirabad level crossing and introducing a freight train for Multan's business community.