LAHORE: The newly appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Pakistan Railways (PR) Mr Shahid Aziz assumed charge of the office on Sunday on officiating basis for a period of three months after relinquishing of the charge by Mr Arshad Salam Khattak.

Mr Aziz, presently working as additional general manager (Mechanical), a BS-21 post, took over the charge following a notifi-cation issued by the federal government’s Establishment Division.

“With the approval of the Prime Minister, Mr Shahid Aziz, a BS-21 officer of Mechanical Engineering Department, PR’s headquarters and presently posted as AGM (Mechanical) is assigned current charge of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) / Senior General Manager (BS-22) with effect from July 30 for a period of three months or till the appointment of a regular incumbent, whichever is earlier, and until further orders,” the notifi-cation reads.

Mr Khattak retired after attaining superannuation on July 29.

According to official sources, the PR CEO slot would again fall vacant after retirement of Mr Aziz in October, this year. And after Aziz’s retirement, Mr Amir Nisar Chaudhry may replace him for a two-year period or so, till he attains superannuation.

“As per the past practice, a summary comprising five or six officers’ names is moved to the premier for appointing one of them as PR head,” an official told Dawn on Sunday, adding that mostly the senior most official is picked for the PR top slot by the premier.

Meanwhile, the PR management organised a farewell ceremony for the outgoing CEO on Sunday, attended by senior offi-cials, including Mr Aziz.

On the occasion, Mr Khattak’s colleagues credited him for restoring the train operation 41 days after the last year’s floods as AGM (Infrsatructure) and joining the department (in 1990) despite having foreign (UK) education.

TRAINS OPERATION: The train operation have been facing delays due to rains in various parts of the country.

On Sunday, according to a spokesman, various express trains arrived late at Lahore station from Karachi and also had delayed departures (for Karachi).

He said the Krakoram Express (42-Down) departed for Karachi from Lahore at 6pm, with threehour delay as its actual departure time was 3pm. Business Express (34-Down) departed at 7pm, instead of 4pm, followed by Millat Express (18-Down) which also faced a three-hour delay.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2023