LAHORE: Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed Saturday said all-out efforts were being made to strengthen the Pakistan Railways and make it a profit earning institution.
Addressing a press conference here at the Railways headquarters, he said a decision had been made to give one-year contract to some 100 drivers, who were about to retire.
He said it had also been decided to run five new freight trains, besides renovation of all the old trains to facilitate the passengers, whose number was expected to increase from 6 million to 7 million by the end of next month.
The Jinnah Express, he said, would be refurbished first and its renovation work would be completed in three to six 6 months.
Sheikh Rashid said the Ministry of Planning had shown willingness for renovation of 200 wagons and overhauling of 100 engines.
He said the railway ministry would be the first one, which would give 10 per cent increment to its employees after six months.
He expressed the hope that washing line workers would be regularized before Eid, besides finalizing the recruitment process.
The minister said because of the honesty of Prime Minister Imran Khan, big institutions were ready to do joint ventures with railway workshops.
He assured the members of Royal Palm that best facilities would be provided to them and it would be made a club in real sense.
He said all-out efforts would be made to bring maximum improvement in the Pakistan Railways under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan. Rs 5 billion deficit of passenger trains had been reduced.
He said he had requested the prime minister to raise the issue of faulty GE engines during his visit to the United States. The American company must fix the faulty engines, he added.
To a query, he said the prime minister's visit to the US was a big opportunity for the country. If loans rescheduling support was given by the US then the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government would take the economy forward in a more effective way, he added.
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