ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Railways is likely to resume its service to Karachi during the first week of October which was badly affected due to unexpected monsoon rains and floods across the country.
“Rehabilitation of the railway track is in full swing with the help of Frontier Works Organization (FWO), Sindh district administration and Pakistan Railways,” railway ministry sources told APP.
He said that on the direction of Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq, the department has utilized all available resources to restore rail services in flood-affected areas across the country.
Sources say that the trial run of the inspection train has also been started for the maintenance of the track and the railway authorities have directed the staff of the carriage department to complete the technical work soon.
In the first phase, he said the decision to run freight trains from October 1 has been made subject to receding water and clearance of signals and bridges.
Pakistan Railways also directed the authorities concerned to complete the ongoing survey of the affected installations on war footing and speed up the rehabilitation process.
He added that technical and non-technical staff of the department are working in three shifts to restore the track after the flood waters recede.
“The train service between Quetta and Karachi division is suspended after the railway bridge collapsed and the railway tracks submerged in water due to floods in the area,” he added.
He said that around seven to eight bridges have been damaged in the remaining divisions due to which train operations have been suspended in the flood-affected areas, adding that until the bridges and tracks are cleared of flood water. Train service cannot be restored till then.
He said that the department had deployed technical bridge crews in different sections to repair the damaged bridges and train operations would be resumed only after the reconstruction work on the bridges was completed.
