'Peshawar going to be railway hub after Gwadar'

PESHAWAR: Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed has said that the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Peshawar, will be going to become a centre of railway track after Gwadar, ARY News reported on Thursday.

Sheikh Rasheed, while talking to journalists in Peshawar, said Prime Minister Imran Khan has decided to inaugurate a new dry port in Azakhel on Friday (tomorrow). The railway authorities have taken a decision to give a gift of a new train to the national, he added.

“If we found it necessary, we will run a new train from Mardan instead of Peshawar. We have also reduced the train fares to half for our Pashtun brothers for the next 65 years and free travelling facilities for the elder citizens aged 75 and above.”

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“It is in the interest of the world to start trading from Jalalabad route. I am promising here that I will give a new train to Peshawar in 2020. ML-1 project will give employment to 100,000 youth. The series of Mainline project is actually a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The minister said, “There is the only way to end smuggling by bringing all containers to Azakhel. We have also installed tracker systems in all trains.”

While answering to a question, Rasheed said a positive environment has now created as all opposition parties had supported three-year extension of the army chief. He added that the extension to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa was an effective step when India is hit by strong protests in reaction of the atrocities against its citizens.

Read: Sheikh Rasheed hints to increase perks of railway employees

The minister said he had already predicted that Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) will give votes in favour of COAS extension. A new political process is going to be started soon and PM Khan will complete its five-year tenure, he claimed.

He also predicted that the accountability process is the agenda of Imran Khan which will be continued at any cost. The minister assured that the real shape of the accountability process will be unveiled after March 2020.