LAHORE, July 1: Changes in the departure time of 26 express and mail trains from 15 minutes to two hours and revision of timings of another 40 trains caused inconvenience to several passengers when the Pakistan Railway implemented the new timetable on Tuesday.
The railway’s summer timings remain in force from April 15 to Oct 14 and winter timings from Oct 15 to April 14. This practice is being followed since the early quarter of the 20th century when a railway was constructed in this part of the subcontinent, which now comprises Pakistan, and passengers are used to it.
While railway authorities at its headquarters in Lahore maintain that the government’s decision to advance clocks by an hour to save daylight necessitated the revision of the train timings, passengers say if the timings are to be changed at such a large scale what is the justification for the time and fare table published by the Pakistan Railway twice a year.
According to the new schedule, Khyber Mail (1-Up) will leave Karachi Cantt at 9:45pm instead of 9:30pm, Bolan Mail (3-Up) will leave Karachi City at 3pm instead of 1:15pm and Bolan Mail (4-Dn) will leave Quetta at 2:30pm instead of 1:30pm.
Buraq Express (5-Up) will leave Karachi Cantt at 9pm instead of 7:15pm and Buraq Express (6-Dn) will leave Rawalpindi at 2pm instead of 4pm. Tezgam (7-Up) will leave Karachi Cantt at 5:15pm instead of 4:45pm and Tezgam (8-Dn) will leave Rawalpindi at 8:15am instead of 8:30am.
Allama Iqbal Express (9-Up) will leave Karachi Cantt at 3:15pm instead of 1:15pm, Allama Iqbal Express (10-Dn) will leave Sialkot at 7:30am instead of 9am and Hazara Express (11-Up) will leave Karachi City at 5:45am instead of 5:35pm.
Awam Express (14-Dn) will leave Peshawar Cantt at 9:30am instead of 9am and Karachi Express (15-Up) will leave Karachi Cantt at 6pm instead of 5:30pm. Millat Express (17-Up) will leave Karachi Cantt at 4:30pm instead of 4:15pm, Millat Express (18-Dn) will leave Faisalabad at 4:30pm instead of 4pm and
Khushhal Khan Khattak Express (19-Up) will leave Peshawar Cantt at 7pm instead of 7:15pm.
Chiltan Express (21-Up) will leave Quetta at 9am instead of 8:45am and Chiltan Express (22-Dn) will leave Faisalabad at 5pm instead of 4:30pm. Quetta Express (23-Up) will leave Quetta at 11am instead of 10:45am, Bahauddin Zakariya (25-Up) will leave Karachi City at 6:30pm instead of 6:15pm and Bahauddin Zakariya
(26-Dn) will leave Multan
Cantt at 7pm instead of 6:45pm.
Shalimar Express (27-Up) will leave Karachi Cantt at 8:30am instead of 6am, Shah Rukn-i-Alam (29-Up) will leave Karachi Cantt at 6:45am instead of 6:35am, Super Express (33-Up) will leave Karachi Cantt at 11am instead of 10am and Super Express (34-Dn) will leave Sargodha at 6pm instead of 5pm. Jaffar Express (39-Up) will leave Quetta at 2pm instead of 2:30pm and Karakoram Express (41-Up) will leave Karachi Cantt at 4pm instead of 3:30pm.