I have seen Shahbaz seeking NRO: Sh Rashid

LAHORE: The Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rashid, has claimed once again that he himself has seen Pakistan Muslim League-N President Shahbaz Sharif seeking an NRO (a deal).

Addressing a press conference at Railways Headquarters here on Monday, he said the opposition leader in National Assembly is “playing on both sides of the wicket”. He said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif did not like to get medical treatment in Pakistan, and he wanted to go abroad. To a question about Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, he said he has forgiven Bilawal twice, but won’t do so for the third time.

About developments in the railways, Sh Rashid said tenders would be floated soon for conversion of five locomotives to LNG, adding if the experiment succeeds, Pakistan Railways would be saving Rs 8-9 billion annually. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan would inaugurate Jinnah Express on March 30 in Lahore. He said the VIP train between Lahore and Karachi would charge passengers Rs7,000 per head and provide them with complementary food, bedding and breakfast.

Sh Rashid said after 25 years, Pakistan Railways is going to connect Dargai (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa) with Karachi and added after that, train service from Kohat to Karachi would also be started. Another train, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan express, would also be launched from Rawalpindi to Karachi via Lahore, he said and added the travel time between Lahore and Rawalpindi would also be reduced by 30 minutes from April 15.

He said fares would also be rationalised from April 15. He said 20 more trains would be introduced by Pakistan Railways. The minister said in order to provide relief to the underprivileged people, a new train would also be introduced which would make stops at smaller stations.

Sh Rashid said efforts are underway to sign ML-1 project before PM Imran Khan’s visit to China on April 27, and added if the ML-1 contract is finalised with some amendments, Pakistan Railways would be able to offer contract jobs to 100,000 people for five to 10 years.