Fares of passenger trains increase today

RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Railways will increase the fares of passenger and inter-city passenger trains from 2 per cent to 8.5 per cent from July 1 (today).

According to a PR spokesman, the increase in the fares has been done in a rational way after careful study of the fares of road and air transport. The current increase in the fares would reduce the additional burden of deficit being faced by Pakistan Railways, he added. The increasing oil prices had left the PR with no option but to increase the fares of all of the passenger trains, he said.

He said there would be no increase in the fares for the destinations up to 50 kilometers and for those who had already got their seats reserved for various destinations. The PR was facing over Rs 3 billion financial burden due to increase in the oil prices, he added.

The spokesman said Pakistan Railways had launched 34 new trains during last nine months besides increasing over six million passengers.