Federal Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that additional six new trains, three each in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, will be run soon. He said that the Pakistan Railways has set a revenue target Rs10 billion per annum, out of which Rs4 billion has already been earned. Talking to newsmen during his visit to Mardan Railway Station on Sunday, Sheikh Rashid said the government is working on laying 1,700 kilometres new railway tracks across the country. The tribal districts will be connected to the rest of the country through railway tracks.
Sheikh Rashid said Mardan-Dargai service has been restored after 17 years. He said a train from Dargai to Karachi will also be run and fruit trees will be planted on both sides of the track. He went on saying that he has a special connection with Mardan and has several friendships. "Usually, Pakhtuns have more children, that is why the 100-seat Rehman Baba Express is currently used by 160 passengers," he said, adding that the critics initially made fun of Rehman Baba train, but it proved successful in the end.
The minister said that various projects related to Railways will be completed under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and agreements in this regard will be finalised with China soon. He said the railway tracks will serve as a backbone of the CPEC project. He said train is a respectable mode of travelling especially for the families. He informed that the Pakistan Railways has set target to earn Rs10 billion revenue annually out of which Rs4 billion has already been earned. Referring to a ML-1 track, he said on construction of the track, it will provide employment opportunities up to 90,000 people. He said the Railways Ministry has so far advertised 10,000 jobs and a million people have applied for these jobs.
Rashid said encroachments on Railways' land will be removed at all costs. He said the provincial government should expedite work on removal of encroachments so that Mardan to Nowshera track and other tracks could be restored expeditiously. He said all the British-era tracks will also be restored.
Later speaking to newsmen in district Nowshera, Sheikh Rashid said Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is moving towards political death for his father, Asif Ali Zardari. He said the federal minister clarified that he was just talking about the political demise of the PPP chairman, not the actual one. "I am a bird lover. I cannot even think of killing someone," he taunted at Bilawal.
Rashid said the PPP chairman would have been a national hero if he had come out against corruption, but now he has become a 'national zero.' He also admitted that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) did not perform well in Sindh.
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