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LAHORE, Oct 12: Officials of the railway’s freight department claim that their efforts for improving earnings through freight service are bearing fruit.
According to them, they have hauled 24,501 wagons upcountry (from Karachi) during the first quarter (July-September) of the current financial year. During the corresponding period last year, the figure was 22,815.
At least 1,023 more wagons were hired for transporting phosphate and 1,656 for hauling coal.
However, the officials say that a 20 per cent decline in oil transportation has hit the railways hard, as an oil wagon fetches double the revenue than that used for hauling goods.
Installation of pipelines and conversion of thermal power plants from furnace oil to gas are the main reasons behind the decline, they say.
A lack of wheat imports due to good local crops has added to the worsening situation, they say.
RESHUFFLE: The railway has reshuffled some of its senior officers. Sukkur railway division superintendent (DS) Yaqoob Ali Zardari has been transferred to Lahore, where he will take charge on Oct 18. DS (Lahore) Abdul Wahab has been transferred as the chief engineer (tracks) to replace Chaudhry Aziz who is retiring on Oct 18. DS (Multan) Junaid Qureshi has been transferred to Sukkur in place of Mr Zardari while the man in charge of track dualization, Saeed Akhtar, has been transferred as the Multan DS.
FARE DISCOUNT DENIED: The railway ministry has failed to circulate its directions regarding concessional fare for journalists to all its divisions as newsmen are being denied the facility at many stations.
Reports from various stations say that booking clerks are showing ignorance about any circular ordering a discount for newsmen.
The problem surfaced when some Lahore-based journalists had to travel outstation. They had to pay the full fare on their way back.
When contacted, Additional General Manager (Passengers) Iqbal Khatri advised newsmen to get return-tickets in Lahore to avoid such a situation.
TICKETLESS: Special ticket-checking teams have caught 1,667 passengers travelling without valid tickets during the last 10 days. The teams recovered a fine of Rs450,000 from those passengers.
