Sheikh Rasheed inaugurates new Karachi-Peshawar train service

PESHAWAR: Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on Sunday inaugurated a new passenger train, Rehman Baba Express, at a ceremony at the Peshawar railway station.

As per details, the new train service was launched to provide safer and better transport facilities to commuters travelling between Karachi and Peshawar.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said commuters will now reach Peshawar from Karachi within 8 hours. Three new train services will be launched to facilitate tourists, he said and added they will travel on the routes between Peshawar and Attock, Rawalpindi and Taxila, and Karachi and Keenjhar Lake.

He said the real goal is to increase the number of freight trains in the country. He announced to launch a container train on January 25 next year.

Mr Rasheed expressed a desire to run a train service between Peshawar and Lahore. He said he had issued directives for removal of all encroachments from railway lands.

“If corruption is not eliminated even now, the country won’t move forward,” he asserted, adding, “the people stand by Prime Minister Imran Khan for real change.”

The minister said the people voted for Mr Khan to hold corrupt people to account.

He vowed to launch as many as 20 new trains in a year and provide cheaper transport facilities to the poor. He said the prime minister had set up a complaint cell which addressed the complaints so far it received yesterday.