ISLAMABAD: The cash-strapped Pakistan Railways has been assigned the task of transporting fuel to power plants, a development set to boost its earnings.

Officials said the Railways had mobilised about 300 tankers to transport furnace oil from the Karachi Port to the main storage depot of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) for its onward supply to power plants.

This is a major freight business the Railways has obtained in years. It may be pertinent to mention that the organisation has substantially curtailed its freight service — the key source of its revenue — because of the severe locomotives crisis.

On Thursday, Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmad Bilour called on Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and informed him that two rail carriages with 99 oil tankers carrying furnace oil had already reached Lalpir, the main storage depot of PSO, from the Karachi Port. Five more rail carriages carrying 200 tankers are on their way.

The prime minister asked Mr Bilour to hold a presentation on the state of Railways early next month with a roadmap for rehabilitation of the organisation.

Mr Ashraf said revival of the Railways was one of the top priorities of his government and he would take all steps to make it a vibrant organisation.

COMPENSATION: The railways minister condemned the bomb blast that occurred at the Sibi station on Wednesday night and announced a compensation of Rs500,000 each to the families of those killed, Rs100,000 each to the seriously injured and Rs5,000 to those who suffered minor injuries in the incident.