Islamabad:
Federal Minister of Railways Hanif Abbasi has said that there is now a significant effort to modernize Pakistan railways with the upgrade of traces and digitization of various processes.
During an informal interaction with journalists on Thursday, he said no major investments had been made in the railways in the last eight years, but now the situation had changed.
He said tickets on the railways have already been digitized, with passengers capable of buying tickets through 16 banks as well as Easypaisa and Ufone Bank.
He said Ticket Checkers will also be equipped with handheld machines to limit ticket prices, which currently causes losses of around RS1 billion annually.
“The Ministry of Railway has been transformed into an e-office with plans for digital inspections of operations. We will generate revenue through freight operations and use it to subsidize passenger services,” he added.
Abbasi, who outlined infrastructure projects, said a 480 -kilometer track of Rohri to Karachi was planned, with Asian Development Bank (ADB) officials expected to expand cooperation.
He said the ministry is also engaging with the Sindh government on Rohri -the Sukkur track and with the Balochistan government for work between Sheikh Zayed and Kuchlak.
“The Punjab government will meanwhile build the Lahore-Rawal Pindi track and install free Wi-Fi at 40 railway stations. In addition, Punjab’s tourist department will adopt Taxila, Rawalpindi and Lahore.”
Abbasi said the work was underway on the remaining parts of ML-1, while the development on ML-3 from Nokundi to Rohri would also begin soon.
He added that 11 trains would be outsourced with bids to start from RS3.07 billion.
In international connection, Abbasi revealed that a project is planning to connect Kohat, Kharlachi and Mazar-I-Sharif with Uzbekistan, with both Pakistan and Ubekistan, awarding $ 5 million each to feasibility surveys.
Separately, Abbasi said that Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI) in Lahore would start kidney transplants from October this year.
