LAHORE, June 11: Police have initiated a probe into the `disappearance’ of a dossier containing original documents of the Golf Club deal from the Pakistan Railways record. “Investigations are under way after the registration of the FIR and action will be taken against those found guilty in accordance with the law,” Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said at a news conference at the PR headquarters here on Monday.

“Notices have also been issued to the company in possession of a similar railway facility at Karachi to rationalise the contract by undoing the discrepancies in it. We’ll cancel the contract if they resist,” the minister added.

About facilities for PR staff, he said no railway employee would remain shelterless as 1,000 quarters would be constructed in each of the five railway divisions. Loans on soft-term basis would be sought from the government for the purpose while land would be provided by the railways.

The services of all employees working in the railways on contract basis for more than three years would be regularised. “I thank President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on behalf of railway workers and technical staff for upgrading their posts. Railway employees will celebrate Youm-i-Tashkur on June 15 throughout the country. Their posts have been upgraded for the first time in 60 years.”

The federal budget has also brought good news for railway pensioners as they have been given 15 to 20 per cent increase. Railway employees would be the biggest beneficiaries of the subsidies announced by the government on the essential items, he said.

“Railways will be in profit if its pension bill is excluded from its liabilities on the pattern of some other government departments,” argued the minister.

In order to ensure provision of quality goods at subsidised prices in under-developed areas, five trains would be run with the help of the Utility Stores Corporations (USC). The trains would operate at Bhakkar, Jhang and Fateh Jhang.

The minister said a decision had been taken to reduce the travel duration of railcars running between Lahore and Rawalpindi by half-an-hour from June 15. A `courtesy week’ would be observed from June 16. Punjab Chief Minister Pervaz Elahi would inaugurate the new express train between Lahore and Mianwali on June 20.

Every division of the railways would have one fire-fighting vehicle. The decision had been taken after the government initiative to waive off duty on the import of fire-fighting vehicles, said the minister while expressing optimism that the railway would get the vehicles as donation.

Work on the dualisation of the Lahore-Khanewal section would be completed by the end of the current year. Proposals for dualising the Lahore-Gujranwala and Lahore-Faisalabad sections would be submitted to the government for approval.

Sheikh Rashid said the Lahore station would be made a model station by establishing a latest reservation centre and provision of comfortable seating arrangement for the passengers.

Admitting that some 115 trains were running in losses, he said many others were earning profit. “Railway is the mode of transportation of the poor. We are running 35 trains for the poor. The income of railways is improving. The number of freight trains has risen from six to 10.”