Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique has said the number of freight locomotives would reach 135 by September this year. "Four years back, only seven engines were being used for freight traffic and today 95 locomotives are dedicated to the freight sector. Freight sector earnings augmented due to handwork and commitment of present team," Minister told reporters after participating in the meeting held to materialize utilisation plan of new 4000-4500 horsepower American locomotives at Railway Headquarters.

He said, "We started when one freight train was used to run after two days but today freight traffic has increased to 13-14 trains per day and average of freight traffic per day is bound to grow by September, this year after receiving all 55 GE locomotives from US".

He said, "New locomotives will be dedicated to oil and coal supply." He directed officers to run new goods trains, currently one train is running from Badami Bagh Lahore to Karachi. He asked freight sector to facilitate small businessmen of Faisalabad and Multan by running a goods train from these stations also. Pakistan Railways have potential clients always and freight orders but previously it was unable to accommodate its customers due to aged locomotives.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017