LAHORE: The Pakistan Railways (PR) earned a record income in the freight sector as some 300 freight trains left Karachi for various upcountry destinations in October.

“We earned Rs999.5 million on account of freight transportation during the last month which is a record,” said a PR spokesperson at its headquarters here on Monday.

Maximum income from the sector in a month had been Rs853 million, said the spokesperson.

Freight service is the major source of income for railways worldwide and the Pakistan Railways used to earn at least Rs6 billion annually from the operation of eight to 10 freight trains from Karachi for various upcountry destinations daily.

An acute shortage of locomotives had in May 2011 forced the railways administration to suspend all cargo trains from Karachi. Suspension of passenger trains and availability of locomotives resulted in restoration of freight service of four trains daily in December the same year.

The freight service witnessed several ups and downs primarily due to locomotives shortage and the number of freight trains leaving Karachi remained one or two daily.

Railways got a boost as five freight trains left Karachi for upcountry destinations in December 2003.

After a decade or so, a total of 16 freight trains left Karachi for various upcountry destinations on Aug 31, 2014, heralding revival of the much-neglected Pakistan Railways.

DATE EXTENDED: The date for getting the tickets issued by the private company for Business Express validated has been extended.

However, instead of simplifying the procedure to facilitate passengers, it asked them to visit its reservation offices in Lahore and Karachi for the purpose and that too before 9pm on Nov 5.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2015

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