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KARACHI, Jan 8: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday inaugurated the Jinnah Express at the Karachi Cantt Railway Station. Over 500 passengers travelled on the inaugural trip of the first non-stop train between Karachi and Rawalpindi. The train is fully air-conditioned.
Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad Khan, Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Minister for Ports and Shipping Babar Ghauri, members of parliament and senior officials attended the ceremony.
Mr Aziz termed vast tracts of non-utilised land of the Pakistan Railways a dead asset, suggesting that the plots be auctioned off. He said the Pakistan Railways had turned a new leaf by launching fast trains, dualising railway tracks between Lodhran and Lahore and inducting new locomotives.
Online adds: The prime minister said the railways would be able to provide services of an international standard after the completion of modernisation and improvement plans.
He assured the organization of increase in funds for the purchase of passenger coaches and cargo wagons.
Earlier, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the Jinnah Express was the 13th train launched over the past six months. During the period, he added, there had been a record increase of two million passengers.
This year, he added, the Railways planned to launch a night train between Karachi and Lahore that would cover the distance in 10 to 12 hours, as against the present 16.
He said the railway was considering auctioning its plots across the country.
A beginning in that direction, the minister added, would be made on Tuesday with the auctioning of a plot in Karachi.
