ISLAMABAD, Nov 3 (APP): Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafiq
Tuesday informed the Senate that the Pakistan Railways was likely to
achieve Rs 38 billion profit exceeding the Rs 32 billion target set
for the current fiscal year.
During the question-hour, he said the profit received so far was
indicating that the national fleet would not only achieve the set
target but also exceed it.
Replying to a question, the minister said the government was taking a
number of steps to strengthen railways network, adding that Pakistan
and Afghanistan were in contact to connect Chaman with Spinboldak and
Jalalabad-Peshawar through rail links.
He said Chaman-Spinboldak project (11.5 kilometer track) would be
carried out at a cost of Rs 1262.960 million, while the government had
offered Afghanistan to bear expenses of the Jalalabad-Peshawar project.
Besides, Saad Rafique said that Pakistan Railways had signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the official freight forwarding company of State Turkish Railways, Great Anatolian Logistic Company in 2013.
Under the MoU, he said, the company would finance freight trains and
bear allied expenses including marketing for first six months of the
project execution.
To another question, he said Pakistan Railways was ready to restore
the ‘ECO train service’ but the delay was due to some infrastructure
improvement works taking place near Istanbul, Turkey. “The matter is
vigorously being pursued with the Turkish authorities.”
Replying another question, the minister said as many as 17 schools established under Pakistan Railways were operating in different cities of the country.
Saad Rafique said various reforms had been introduced in the Railways
schools, under which building infrastructure and salary packages of
teachers had been improved, besides holding training courses for
teaching staff.
