Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The PC-I for acquisition of land for Gwadar rail connectivity was under-process after completion of feasibility study of Gwadar to Quetta and Quetta to Kotla Jam rail link via Zhob. The distance from Gwadar to Quetta of the proposed railway line was about 925 kilometers, Quetta to Zhob was about 320 Kilometers, Zhob to Kotla Jam was about 497 kilometers and from Kohat to Peshawar was about 65 kilometers, said an official in the Ministry of Railways. He said the distance of proposed railway line from Gwadar to Khuzdar was about 737 kilometers. Moreover, no rail link was proposed from Khuzdar to Ratodero and Ratodero to Sukkur.
However, the distance from Sukkur to Lahore was about 743 kilometers and Lahore to Peshawar was about 462 kilometers, the official said adding that no study from Zhob to Kohat was under-consideration by Pakistan Railways. To a question, he said that 21 Up and 218 Down trains on Lahore-Narowal (Shah Sawar Passenger) were suspended in 2011 along-with 58 other pairs of trains over the system. Later on, the official said three trains 209UP/210 Down (Faiz Ahmad Faiz passenger), 211 UP/212 Down (Narowal Passenger) and 125 UP/126 Down (Lasani Express) were restored which were quite sufficient to cater the needs of travelling public of the section.
He said that no loss had been incurred to Pakistan Railways due to suspension of 217 UP/218 Down. Further, three trains mentioned above were currently suspended due to the lockdown and would be restored as and when decided by the department. At present, Allama Iqbal Express and Lasani Express were available which run between Karachi – Sialkot via Lahore – Narowal, the official added. He said that as many as 595 passenger were traveling in Up-direction and in Down direction from Narowal and Sialkot.
