Staff Reporter
Rawalpindi/Lahore
Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on Wednesday said that the train operation has been resumed partially to facilitate the passengers on the occasion of Eid ul Fitr. Talking to media persons here at Rawalpindi Railway Station, he said trains started their journey from several stations including Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan, Karachi and Quetta on Wednesday.
He said, all the arrangements were finalized to resume the train operation and the Divisional Superintendents had been directed to strictly implement the Standard Operating Procedures. The Minister announced that now the online booking of train tickets would be stopped one or two hours before departure of the train to facilitate the passengers. Moreover, booking for the trains would be made only through online ticketing service, while the booking offices would be opened after Eid, he said.
The Railways had decided to run the train at 60 per cent occupancy to main social distancing and there was no fare increase. Special cleanliness arrangements had also been made at all railway stations, he said. “We will review the situation and if everything goes well then we will restore more trains from June 1,” he announced.
Meanwhile, Punjab government and transporters on Wednesday reached an agreement for the resumption of public transport and the transporters announced later to resume public transport.
Let it be known that Punjab Information Minister Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan had on Monday said the government will solve the transporters’ issue by holding dialogue with them again.
