LAHORE, Sept 22: The Khokhrapar-Monabao rail link will be resumed in January next, says Pakistan Railways new general manager (operations) Saleemur Rahman Akhoond. In his maiden press conference at the PR headquarters on Thursday, Mr Akhoond said: “Around 50km existing line of meter gauge has been replaced with broad gauge on the Mirpurkhas-Khokhrapar section so far.”

He said the work was simultaneously started both from the ends of Khokhrapar and Mirpurkhas and likely to be completed before Dec 31. He was confident that traffic would move through the broad gauge according to the schedule.

“Since I am also holding the additional charge of the federal government inspector of railways (FGIR), I inspected the Shershah-Shujaabad section and found the 26km track fit for running trains at a speed of 140km per hour,” he said, and added Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would formally inaugurate it by the end of the current month or early October.

The railway ministry, he said, would be posting a full-time FGIR shortly.

“My priorities are to ensure a safe journey with the provision of better facilities to travellers, arrival and departure of trains on time, improve earning both in passenger and freight sectors and to better discipline of the staff.

“I will also focus on the improvement of track and signal system, strengthen the role of trains operating and maintenance staff,” he said.

All officers had been directed to periodically travel in the locomotives so that they could have a first-hand knowledge about the working of the engine crew, condition of the track and signal system. This would also help them concentrate on safety-related matters, he said.

Measures would also be taken to check corruption and incidence of theft in the organization, he said.

“At present, the railways’ 51 per cent rolling stock, 41 per cent sleepers and 100 per cent locomotives are overage,” the GM said.

During the first two months and a half or so of the current fiscal year, the railways was around Rs700 million short of the budget target, he said, and added that accidents at the Sarhad and Malir Bridge had disturbed the trains’ schedule.

Mr Akhoond said the railways neither had any proposal to increase fares nor any plan to start work on the Sialkot-Jammu sector. He said the high-ups had given him a free hand to improve the working of the railways.

He said the Balochistan government was extending all-out help to the railways for the safe operation of trains.