ISLAMABAD (APP) - Pakistan Railways is planning to run `Eid Special Trains’ on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr to cater to the rush and provide opportunities to celebrate the Islamic festival with their loved ones across the country.
“The department has completed all the arrangements regarding Eid Special Trains to facilitate the passengers and the announcement would be made shortly,” an official in the Ministry of Railways told APP.
The official said that Pakistan Railways would not only advertise the schedule of the Eid Special Train in daily Urdu, and English newspapers but also disseminate it into social and electronic media.
To celebrate Eid with their loved ones, he said the foreign nationals, students, government employees, and labours return home via trains, due to which, the department has run special trains every Eid.
To a question, he said Pakistan Railways has earned Rs 55 billion in the first eight months of the current financial year 2023-24, despite facing a financial crisis due to floods in the monsoon season.
During the first eight months of the last financial year (2022-23), the department earned Rs 37 billion, a historic increase in revenue during the same period of the current financial year (2023-24), he added.
According to the data, he said that out of the revenue of Rs 55 billion, revenue was derived from passenger and freight trains while other sectors of the department also contributed to the total revenue.
The department is expecting to generate revenues up to Rs 80 billion by the end of this financial year through the consistent efforts and hard work of the Railway workers, the official added.
At present, he said that Pakistan Railways is operating 96 passenger trains, up from the previous year when 86 trains were running.
Similarly, during the previous year, on average it operated 3.75 freight trains while the number reached seven freight trains this year.
He said the department emphasized that the issue of delay in payment of salaries to employees has now been resolved and things will be more streamlined, once work on the Mainline-I (ML-I) project kicks off.
The official said that owing to inflationary pressures, led by high fuel costs, Pakistan Railways has increased its fares, both for passenger and freight segments that would help the cash-strapped corporation to fetch better revenues in the next few months.