PR purchases 66,000 litres of diesel

RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: The Pakistan Railways (PR), Lahore Division, has purchased 66,000 litres of diesel from the open market to run its trains on time. The sources in the Pakistan Railways Headquarter told Business Recorder here on Saturday.

A senior Railway official told on Saturday all the seven Divisional Superintendent (DS) has been directed to buy diesel from the open market .It may be mentioned here that all Division had been facing diesel shortage for the last two days which forced them to turn to open market.

He said that the local railway officials procured 66,000 litres of diesel from Pakistan State Oil (PSO) on cash payment on Saturday and 60,000 litres on Friday as the freight wagon carrying fuel for Lahore would arrive late on Sunday night.

He said total 50 trains operated from Lahore to different parts of the country including Quetta, Karachi, , Multan and Peshawar. He said they approximately required 60,000 litres of diesel daily.

He said that the railway procured diesel from PSO Karachi and supplied to relevant divisional headquarters to run the trains. He said that the diesel had not been supplied to the Lahore Division for the last two days and so it had to purchase it from the open market after getting approval from the railway headquarters. He said that the railway engines were also developing faults which cased delay in trains arrival and departure. The people were of the view that it was a routine in railway and due to this situation; the passengers are turning to alternative mode of transportation to travel for their long and short destinations.

When contacted, Pakistan Railways General Manger operation Junaid Qureshi said that he had directed to all Divisional Superintends to purchase diesel from the open market.

In response to a question regarding the shortage of diesel, he said that it was a routine matter and the railway purchased diesel from open market in time of need.  He said that the Pakistan Railways required some 200,000 litres diesel everyday to run its operations across the country. The PR Lahore Division had no fuel to run the operation on Saturday as the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) was not providing fuel to the Pakistan Railways due to the lingering debts issue.

Pakistan Railways Spokesman Imtiaz Hussain Zaidi dispelled the impression that the train service had come to a halt. There is no standstill like situation. Not a single train has been delayed since morning, he claimed. The spokesman said various trains including the Lahore-Rawalpindi Rail Car, Fareed Express, Khyber Express, Awami Express and Tez Gam Express trains left Lahore station for their destinations as usual. He said the fuel shortage was being faced only at the Lahore railway station, not the whole Lahore Division. A goods train carrying 66,000 liters of diesel has left Karachi and will arrive at Lahore by evening. In the meanwhile, none of the trains schedule has been affected.

However, he feared that if the situation remains the same tomorrow, it was likely that some trains may face delays.