Daily Times

Around 41.91 million passengers traveled by train during 2023-24 compared to 35.40 million in 2022-23 – an increase of 6.51 million in the annual count, according to the data of Pakistan Railways.

According to the data, a total passenger earning in the fiscal year 2023-24 was Rs. 47.712 billion, exceeding the budgetary target by a margin of Rs. 8.712 billion. Besides, there is an increase in earnings by Rs. 13.799 billion as compared to the earnings of the previous financial year 2022-23.

The revenue generated through other means in the fiscal year 2023-24 was Rs. 39.803 billion which includes freight, military traffic, property and land, scrap and others, it added. The railway authorities are hopeful that the number of railway passengers will rise further during the upcoming year. Pakistan Railways has made special arrangements to facilitate passengers at stations and in trains en-route including provision of state-of-the-art dining cars, mobile charging sockets are provided in coaches and provision of water dispensers in coaches to provide clean drinking water to passengers. Besides this, the department has installed Ticket Vending Machines (TVM) for purchasing tickets, information counters to guide and facilitate passengers, digital display boards for arrival and departure of trains and provision of wheel chairs and ramps for disabled people.