Karachi to Premnagar Dry port: Railways restores freight train service

Pakistan Railways (PR) administration has restored freight train service between Karachi seaports to Premnagar Dry port Lahore for container service after the span of six months suspension. The sources in the Railway Headquarter told Business Recorder here on Saturday.
The officials at Premnagar Dry port claimed that some 600 wagons loaded with oil, containers, phosphate, railway material and other commercial items had reached at Premnager Dry port and second train will reach on Sunday (today). It is pertinent to mention here that railways authorities had been forced to terminate the freight trains after acute shortage of locomotives and fuel crisis in August last year.
Sources said that after suspension of freight service, department was earning only one million rupees but after restoration of services it had touched Rs 9.7 million maximum in a day. "The first freight train from Karachi port departed on January 24 and it reached on Friday at Premnagar Dry port. Now we are loading more containers and operating one freight train daily between two destinations. Each train is carrying 40 containers and concerned officials had also dedicated two locomotives for this purpose. Hopefully we will increase the trains because there are huge potential and we want to operate 10 freight trains daily from Karachi port to Premnagar" sources added.
An official talking about the available locomotives, said that authorities have reserved 10 engines for freight operation and we were operating freight trains between Karachi, Wah, Texla, Kherabad Noshera, Lahore, Premnagar, Dawoodkhel, Warcha district Khushab, Lalpir Muzaffargarh and other parts of the country, he observed.
Deputy Chief Operating Superintendent freight, Zubair Shafi Ghori, told this scribe that railways have also restored parcel train service between Karachi and Faisalabad. He said PR administration would operate 10 freight trains daily if 15 locomotives were available for this purpose. He said railways have overcome the fuel crisis and five to seven days' fuel was available. He said, "we were targeting to earn Rs 20 million daily through freight services".