Pakistan Railways mulls to restore closed sections in Balochistan

ISLAMABAD    –    Pakistan Railways is planning to restore all the closed sections in Balochistan province which could not only generate revenue for the department but also facilitate the masses. “The decision will facili­tate the local people of the prov­ince and also boost the business activities for the small business owners,” an official in the Min­istry of Railways told media. He said that Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique had also taken a keen interest in this re­gard and asked the concerned of­ficial of the department to make a plan for restoration of different sections to generate income in the province. To a question, he said that Pakistan Railways had also planned to start rehabilita­tion work of a 33-kilometer track through sleeper renewal between Quetta-Bostan and Quetta-Cha­man section. “The track will not only facilitate the passengers but also connect three major cities of the province,” he said.

He said railway network in Balochistan province mainly con­sisted of Quetta Division having Dera Allah Yar-Sibi-Quetta, Quet­ta-Chaman, Sibi-Khost, Spezend-Dalbandin-Taftan, Bostan-Zhob which were closed for the last 15 years. The official said there were two passenger trains Jaffer Express (40Up, 39 Down) and Chaman Passenger (349Up, 350 Down) operating in Balochistan while no stations had been closed during the last 15 years in Quet­ta division. He said the overall length of the railway track in Balochistan was 1,470.36 kilome­ters including the closed Bostan-Zhob section. “Most of the track is more than 100 years old and on certain stretches, engineer­ing speed restrictions have been imposed due to deferred mainte­nance and owing to resource con­straints,” he said, adding that the routine maintenance of track was being carried out with available resources.

To improve railway services in Balochistan, he said, the depart­ment was taking several steps like approval of PC-I for the track’s rehabilitation and the re­habilitation of another 100-km track between Ahmedwal Dalba­din on Quetta-Taftan section. The official said that rehabilitation work of track between Nokundi Kohi-Taftan on Quetta-Taftan sec­tion while 160.024 kilometers track between Bostan-Chaman on Quetta-Chaman section would be carried out.

Article source: https://www.nation.com.pk/21-Nov-2022/pakistan-railways-mulls-to-restore-closed-sections-in-balochistan