Newly-elected Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed on Saturday said that any form of corruption would not be tolerated in railways, and those involved would be handed over to National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Full cooperation would be provided to NAB in this regard, said the railways minister. In a meeting at railways’ headquarters the minister said that the government is committed to eliminate corruption from railways, which is in the deficit of Rs37 billions. He also sought details of protocol vehicles under use of the officials and told that from now onwards neither any official nor he will himelf take VIP protocol, adding that the ministry has placed all rest houses for sale to end deficit of the department. Rasheed announced that 32 railway stations will be upgraded across the country and double track will be laid from Peshawar to Lahore. He went on to say that we will plant trees on both sides of the track across the country to secure the track. The minister invited private companies to brand rail cabins with their product advertisements as railways tracks are available for rent. He asked that people who had illegally occupied lands of Pakistan Railways should vacate it and this issue will be discussed the next cabinet meeting. Sheikh Rasheed also announced that 5,000 houses will be built for grade-4 railway employees. Published in Daily Times, August 26th 2018.