PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Railways will restore the passenger train service Awam Express between Peshawar and Karachi next month after its suspension for around one and a half years,an official source said on Tuesday.

He told Dawn here that the train would leave Peshawar’s cantonment area for Karachi at 8am on Dec 20.

The Awam Express service was suspended in Aug 2022 due to heavy floods in the country, especially in the Sindh province, according to the official.

He said the flooding badly damaged railway tracks leading to the suspension of the service.

The official said the Awam Express train’s restoration would come after the completion of track repairs.

Meanwhile, the business community of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has welcomed the development and said the Awam Express would benefit the people commuting between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Karachi.

In a statement, chairman of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s standing committee on railways and dry port Ziaul Haq Sarhadisaidthe decision of the Pakistan Railways to restore the Awam Express train was appreciable as it promised a safe and economical travelling facility from the mountainous terrain of Khyber district to port city of Karachi.

Mr Sarhadi, who is also the coordinator of the Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said people in Peshawar, including businesspeople, faced hardships in traveling to other parts of the country after the closure of the Khushal Khan Khattak train, which plied between Karachi and Peshawar via the interior Sindh province, as well as the railcar service between Peshawar and Rawalpindi.

He demanded the early restoration of both Khushal Khan Khattak and Peshawar-Railway trains and an increase in the number of sleepers in the Khyber Mail train.

The SCCI leader also called for the repair and revival of the Peshawar-Landi Kotal railway track saying the proposed move will help revive the historic and internationally famed Safari train service.

He said around 11 passenger and eight goods trains used to ply between Peshawar and other parts of the country until 2008-09 when they’re closed.

Mr Sarhadi said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was rich in mineral resources and had big businesses in marble, gems, soapstone, handicraft, herbal medicine, honey, furniture, carpet, tobacco and matchstick sectors.

He said the province also had four large industrial estates with all furnished goods along with raw material transported between Peshawar to Karachi in trucks costing billions of rupees in revenue annually to the Pakistan Railways.

“Authorities should give a serious note of this massive revenue loss to this public sector entity [Pakistan Railways] and take measures for its recovery by restoring trains,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2023