Islamabad: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has directed the hiring of internationally recognized legal and economic experts for Pakistan Railways, focusing particularly on regional connectivity and international train link projects. He issued these directives while presiding over a high-level meeting on matters related to Pakistan Railways in Islamabad today. Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister highlighted that the railway system is the backbone of the economy and communications of any country.
According to Radio Pakistan, the Prime Minister further directed that a public-private partnership model should be adopted to deal with railways property and land matters. He commended the initiatives being taken for the restoration of the railway system. The meeting received a detailed briefing on the steps being taken to improve Pakistan Railways.
It was informed that seven digital portals of “Raabta” are operational for the digitization of Pakistan Railways, and fifty-six trains have been integrated into “Raabta”. The meeting was apprised that free Wi-Fi facilities have been provided at Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Faisalabad Railway Stations, with plans for availability at forty-eight more stations by the end of the next month.
Furthermore, a pilot project for a digital weighing bridge has been launched at Karachi City Railway Station, with plans to extend this facility to Papri, Karachi Cantt, Port Qasim, Lahore, and Rawalpindi Railway Stations. The meeting noted that four trains have already been outsourced, with eleven more to follow, generating an expected additional revenue of 8.5 billion rupees.
Forty luggage and brake vans have been outsourced, anticipated to bring in 820 million rupees, while the outsourcing of two cargo express trains is underway, expected to generate 6.3 billion rupees. The meeting was briefed on the closure of Railway Constructions Pakistan Limited, Pakistan Railway Freight Transportation Company, and Pakistan Railway Advisory and Consultancy Services.
A roadmap is being prepared for upgrading the Karachi-Kotri section of Main Line-1 and Main Line-3 of Pakistan Railways. Participants were informed that the Thar Rail Connectivity project will be undertaken in collaboration with the Sindh government. Additionally, the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul train is set to start soon, and preliminary work is underway on the Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan rail project.
Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi, Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema, and other senior government officials attended the meeting.