Daily Times

Federal Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rashid’s arrival caused great inconvenience to passengers at the Karachi Cantt and City Railway Station on Thursday.

The ticket counter was shut down due to security reasons upon the arrival of the minister. Gates of the railway station were also closed as a part of Sheikh Rashid’s security protocol. The media was also not allowed to enter the railway station to cover the event.

Disgruntled passengers said that Sheikh Rashid was not acting upon the instruction of PM Khan and the VIP protocol offered to him was objectionable.

Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and other PTI leaders also criticised the Railways Minister for shutting down gates of the railway station and closing down the ticket counters.

Following his arrival via train at the Cantt and City Railway station, Sheikh Rashid addressed the media. “Railway service is for 20 billion (bn) people, give me 4-5 month to improve the system,” he said. He added that there should be a 100 percent increase in the number of cargo trains during his tenure.

Sheikh Rashid also resolved to fight against corruption in the railway department. “During my last tenure as the railway minister in 2006, there were more than 60 corruption cases. I would ensure that nothing happens without merit,” he declared.

He also said that passengers aged over 75 would be able to travel in trains for free. Railways minister further said that the ministry had 20,000 acres of land which was not in use. “The PM should look into whether that land should be sold or leased out,” he added.

While talking about losses faced by the ministry, Rashid said that the Railway bore a loss of Rs30 billion (bn) in 2013. He said that the loss had shot up to Rs41 bn in 2018. Discussing his plans to revive the ministry, Sheikh Rashid shared that he was planning on cutting the expenses by 15 percent. The minister added he will be auctioning off trains and wagons that had been standing stationery for the last 60 years. He said that 30 train stations will be upgraded.

He also said that a new fully air conditioned train would be introduced soon. “The new train will be designed on the pattern of Greenline. It will ply from Karachi to Islamabad with no stops in between,” he announced.

Sheikh Rashid also talked about Karachi Circular Railway project. He remarked that buses will not resolve the metropolis’s transport issue. “Only a local train service will be able to resolve the transportation issue,” he added.

The minister promised that he would follow the pitch provided by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

“He told me to play here and I am playing here, we are fully cooperating with NAB cases and soon we’ll start KCR project to give relief to the residents of Karachi.

Published in Daily Times, August 31^st 2018.