RAWALPINDI: The suspension of public transport from Rawalpindi and Islamabad for the last two days due to the expected US-Iran second round of peace talks has become a blessing in disguise for Pakistan Railways as it earned Rs27 million in a day, which is more than Rs12 million above routine earnings.

Though the district administration opened the bus terminals on Peshawar Road on Tuesday afternoon, many passengers had booked their seats in the railways for Karachi, Lahore and Multan.

A senior official of the district administration told Dawn that the bus terminals on Peshawar Road were opened, but Pirwadhai and other terminals still remained suspended.

As the district administration suspended the public and goods transport from Rawalpindi to other parts of the country, Pakistan Railways witnessed an increase in its passengers.

Railways earned Rs27mon Monday against Rs15m in routine, says official

Mostly people cannot afford air travel to Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Quetta and other cities, so they opted for the railways to reach their destinations.

In the wake of the increase in the number of ticket buyers, extra arrangements were made at the Rawalpindi railway station. Akram Siddiqui, a traveller to Karachi, said that he could not afford the Rs51,000 airline fare from Islamabad to Karachi and decided to go by train.

He said that he had to attend the wedding of his niece and had to reach there before time. He said that there was also rush in trains due to suspension of bus services.

Chaudhry Akhter, a passenger to Lahore, said that the bus service was comfortable and reach Lahore within four hours and thirty minutes via motorway but the train took five hours and we had to get a taxi or rickshaw to reach Thokar Niaz Baig from the Lahore Railways Station.

“There is no option to travel to Lahore via Railcar. To avoid the rush, we booked the tickets on Monday but now there were reports, the bus terminals have opened,” he said.

When contacted, Pakistan Railways Divisional Superintendent Nooruddin Dawar said there was rush on trains for the last two days and they made arrangements to cater to the passengers.

“We added one or two coaches extra in all the trains to Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Hazara, Peshawar and other destinations. Mostly people bought open tickets as there was no other mean of transport in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad,” he said.

About the earning, Mr Dawar said that Pakistan Railways earned Rs27 million on Monday while in routine it stood at about Rs15 million.

He said Pakistan Railways had improved its services under the leadership of Minister Hanif Abbasi and better facilities were being provided to the passengers.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2026