Pakistan Railways will run four special trains from the 25th of Ramadan to accommodate passengers traveling to Eid, Federal Railway Minister Hanif Abbasi announced on Monday.
In a speech with the media outside Parliament, Abbasi assured that improvements in rail services would soon be visible.
He added that a briefing had been carried out on the railway department’s performance and upcoming plans.
The Minister recognized financial losses in the sector and promised efforts to reduce the deficit.
He also addressed reports of defective luggage scanning machines at railway stations and said a meeting would soon be held to solve the problem.
Abbasi emphasized the need to improve rail security and admitted the current measures were inadequate. He confirmed the government’s obligation to improve operations in accordance with the Prime Minister’s directives.
Hanif Abbasi was recently introduced into the federal cabinet when new portfolios were announced.
According to the announcement of the cabinet department, Khawaja Asif will continue to act as Minister of Defense, while Azam Nazir Tarar has been awarded the Ministry of Law, Rights and Human Rights.
In addition, Pakistan Railways announced revised working hours for reservation offices under Ramazan last week, after which the morning change will work from 1 p.m. 7.30am to 12.30pm, while the evening change will work from 7 p.m. 12.30am to 5.30pm.
On Fridays there will also be a break for Friday prayers from 1 p.m. 12:30 to 14.00.
However, reservation offices operating on a single shift will continue with their existing working hours. The new timings remain in effect until the 15th of Ramazan, after which all reservation offices will return to their earlier schedules.
