On Friday, Khawaja Saad Rafique, the minister of railways, ordered the provinces to turn over the lands owned by the railways to the ministry because authorization had been granted to use them for commercial purposes in an effort to increase revenue.
The minister announced at the Green Line Train’s inaugural ceremony that rules for the commercial use of PR lands would be presented to the cabinet in ten days.
He asserted that during the Pakistan Muslim League-(PML-N) Nawaz’s prior administration, the ministry’s revenue increased from Rs18 billion to Rs54 billion. The minister announced that “more coaches are being introduced to the railways.”
Discussing the agreement with China, he said: “Thirty-six of 250 wagons have arrived.” He hoped that there would be no need for importing more coaches once Pakistan started manufacturing them.
The minister declared, “This train is outfitted with modern amenities,” adding that “Wi-Fi” service would also be offered. He emphasized the deficit by saying: “Amounts of Rs200 million are needed to run the Pakistan Railways’ day-to-day operations, but it is only collecting Rs155 million in income per day.”
During the journey, the train would make stops at the stations in Rawalpindi, Chaklala, Lahore, Khanewal, Bahawalpur, Rohri Junction, and Hyderabad. Rafique claimed that if the duty on the import of railroad components could be reduced, the level of service would undoubtedly rise. He gave thanks to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for being present at the ceremony and warned that his assistance would be detrimental to increasing revenue.
