ISLAMABAD, Aug 1: An official of the railways ministry on Friday said that Rawalpindi-Sialkot train service had been revived to facilitate the people and traders.

This train would leave for Rawalpindi from Sialkot at 6am and will return at 5pm daily.

In a statement issued here the secretary, ministry of railways, Khurshid Ahmed Khan, said the train service had been restarted keeping in view the demand of the people and traders of the two cities.

About delay in arrival and departures of different trains, he said torrential rains in lower Sindh had caused this delay however the situation had considerably improved now.

Mr Khan said the railways had succeeded to control unnecessary expenditure and established an effective financial management. Due to which the railways had earned Rs14.44 billion during the outgoing financial year which is Rs1.40 billion more as compared to the previous years.

It is a result of better management of resources and optimum performance of different sections of the railways.

The secretary said that railways land was being leased out to different parties for commercial use. This will help improve the financial condition of the railways, he added.

He said the project to rehabilitate 450 passenger coaches at a cost of Rs2.14 billion was going on satisfactorily and would be completed by the end of 2005.

This project, he added, also include conversion of 40 coaches into airconditioned ones, conversion of 10 power vans and provision of 100 new high-speed bogies.

As many as 30 bogies will be imported from China while 70 will be manufactured locally by importing raw material and transfer of technology, he said.

Under an agreement singed between Pakistan and China on upgrading railways goods service, he said a Chinese company will provide 1300 freight coaches to Pakistan railways.

Out of total 1300 coaches, 420 will be manufactured in China in one year while 880 coaches will be produced at Lahore Moghalpura workshop in the next two years, he added.—APP