Islamabad:
The Karachi -Rohri section will be the most vital segment of the main line project (ML) -1 in terms of freight connectivity with Central Asia and Russia, as well as the transport link with the Thar coal and Reko Diq mines, the Minister of Railways Hanif Abbasi said on Friday.
Speaking to journalists outside the Parliament, the minister said that a big Lahore freight road to Russia via Rohri, Zahedan and then in Tajikistan had been prepared, but its launch was delayed due to the 12 days between Iran and Israel.
Abbasi underlined the ML-1 segment between Karachi and Rohri the most difficult part. “If necessary, I will personally ask the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister of the Sindh to allocate funds to ensure his completion,” he said.
“This section is vital for the success of future projects such as Thar Coal Transportation, Reko Diq Project, the connectivity of freight with Central Asia and Russia, and the realization of the dream of Asian rail liaison,” he said, adding that the ML-2 and ML-3 lines were just as important for the economic reversal of Pakistan.
The Minister revealed that a great international freight initiative – a railway route from Lahore to Zahedan via Rohri, extending to Tajikistan and Russia – had been prepared. “Without the war, this international freight train would have been deployed on June 22,” he noted.
He said $ 5 million had been allocated in the budget to improve the regional connectivity of railways with Uzbekistan. “The development of the country is directly linked to the modernization of the rail system,” said Abbasi, reaffirming its determination to deliver the vision of Prime Minister Shehbaz.
To a question, he declared that he would visit Karachi on July 6 and would meet the chief minister Murad Ali Shah to discuss the requests of the branch province. “We aim to build the same type of coordination with Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa [K-P] As we did with Punjab and Balutchistan, “he said.
On this occasion, the Minister shared updates on the railway development projects in Balutchistan, declaring that the Sibi stations, and Machh were improved, and that many projects of this type had already been implemented or were underway.
Abbasi has highlighted the major improvements in the installations provided to passengers. “People who buy tickets worth 12,000 rupees for 14,000 rupees deserve better travel conditions,” he said. “With the cooperation of the Punjab government, free Wi-Fi installation is provided to 40 stations,” he said.
“We will install digital points of sale (POS) and automatic ticket distributors in 348 stations across the country.” These digital initiatives will not only increase income, but also will improve passenger facilitation, “added the minister.
“Previously, the passengers were waiting for queues for hours. They were asked to provide money. Now, with digital payment machines and automatic ticket distributors, we eliminate these obstacles,” said the minister. “The railways are moved to digitization.”
He said that a complete recovery and optimal use plan of the vast property active ingredients was in preparation, which would be presented to the Prime Minister. He noted that many encroachments had already been deleted.
Speaking of the other segments of the railway, the Minister said that the chief minister of Punjab had allocated more than 350 billion rupees for the upgrading of the Lahore-Rawalpindindi section and various other branches. The Balutchistan government has also allocated RS3 billion for the Saryab and Kuchlak region.
He also highlighted infrastructure upgrades, including the construction of three international stations and the modernization of Quetta station. “The Quetta station has been improved and a multiple diesel train of the unit (DMU) will soon start operations within the city,” he said.
