LAHORE: Senior citizens will have a free ride in all classes of trains on the first two days of Eidul Fitr.

A notification to this effect was issued on the directive of caretaker Railways Minister Roshan Khursheed, said a spokesperson here on Monday.

Quoting the notification, the spokesperson said the commuters aged 65 years and above would get their seats reserved in advance on presentation of a copy of their computerised national identity cards.

Free-of-cost tickets will also be issued to senior citizens through the E-ticketing system, at all the reservation and booking offices besides railway stations.

Senior citizens will have to carry their CNIC in original during travel.

The spokesperson said the Pakistan Railways had already announced a 30 per cent fare discount for other commuters opting to travel in any class of any train on first and second day of Eidul Fitr.

Moreover, five special trains will be run on the eve of Eid to facilitate people.

The first special train will run from Karachi on June 12 at 11am to reach Peshawar Cantt at 10:30pm the next day.

The second train will leave Quetta on June 12 at 11:30am to reach Lahore the next day at 8pm.

The third train will depart from Karachi Cantt on June 13 at 11:30am to reach Lahore through Faisalabad at 10am the next day.

The fourth train will leave Rawalpindi at 7am on June 14 to reach Multan through Bhakkar the same day at 10:30pm.

The fifth special train will start its journey on June 19 from Multan Cantt at 7am to reach Rawalpindi the same day through Mianwali at 10:15pm, said the spokesperson.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2018