BAHAWALPUR: The stage is set to open the new building of the Bahawalpur railway station on Sept 6.

Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed is expected to inaugurate the building that will be completed at a cost of Rs280 million.

The work on the project started during the rule of the PML-N in 2017 and it was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018 at a cost of Rs200 million. But the suspension or slow pace of the construction work for some time increased the cost to Rs280 million.

The completion deadline was also missed twice as a result of which people faced inconvenience. The main pathways leading to the two platforms remained almost blocked.

Now the state-of-the-art building is being given final touches. It is a three-storey building and has waiting rooms with attached washrooms, reservation office along with a booking office, shops and canteens for the convenience of the passengers. The administrative offices of the railways officials have also adequate space in the basement of the building.

Multan Railway Division’s Commercial Officer Ms Nabila Aslam told Dawn by phone that the railway minister would visit Multan and Bahawalpur on Sept 6 but the detailed programme was awaited.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2019