LAHORE: Federal Minister for Railways Khwaja Saad Rafique on Friday claimed that the recent floods caused unprecedented damages to railways, especially in Balochistan and Sindh since the partition of the sub-continent.
The Federal Minister for Railways said that the department has been striving hard to restore normal operation of trains. Taftan to Dalbadin track has cleared while Dera Allah Yar to Jacobabad track is still underwater, Khwaja added.
He added that they are coordinating with Sindh’s irrigation department to dewater the tracks to restore the train operation. Railway has not suffered such infrastructural damage since partition, he claimed.
Earlier on September 11, the Pakistan Railways announced to procure as many as 25 diesel-electric locomotives for various shunting points across the country that would help to replace outdated locomotives.
Sources in the Ministry of Railways told state-owned APP that they will procure the 25 shunting locomotives in three years at an estimated cost of Rs. 14 billion.
They said that currently, they are operating only 51 locomotives for this service against the 98 shunting points at various railway stations across the country. Additionally, the department would discard most old locomotives due to high maintenance costs.
