Pakistan Railways to run five more special summer vacation trains

LAHORE - The Pakistan Railways (PRs) have decided to run special summer vacation train till July 10 with five more trips between Rawalpindi and Karachi.

Divisional Commercial Officer (DCO) Rawalpindi Raza Ali Habib told state media that initially the summer vacation train was plied between Rawalpindi and Karachi from June 18 to 30 to facilitate the passengers, particularly families.

Some seven trips were scheduled during the period, which had now been extended till July 10 with five more trips including on July 2 Karachi to Rawalpindi, July 4 Rawalpindi to Karachi, July 6 Karachi to Rawalpindi, July 8 Rawalpindi to Karachi and July 10 Karachi to Rawalpindi would be operated, he added.

Raza Habib said the stations where the special train made a stop, were Hyderabad, Rohri, Khanpur, Bahawalpur, Khanewal, Sahiwal, Okara, Raiwind, Lahore, Gujranwala, Wazirabad, Gujrat, Lalamusa and Jhelum.

"The special train consists of A/C Business, A/C Standard and Economy classes of coaches," he said adding that each special summer train carried as many as 700 passengers, generating revenue of around Rs 1.3 million.

In order to ensure the safety of passengers and visitors, security arrangements had been enhanced at the Rawalpindi Railway Station, he added.

To a question, he said armed police personnel had been deployed at the railway station to keep security situation in check. Moreover, policemen in plain clothes were also deployed to keep an eye on suspicious persons.

He said the entire parking area had been covered using 32 closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) apart from installing floodlights. Moreover, three booths with imported computerized barriers had also been set up to ensure proper checking and to maintain records of all visitors, including the drivers and number plates of the vehicles.

He said ground surveillance cameras had also been installed to check vehicles. A special control room had been set up where activities of the visitors were monitored round the clock, while security of the passengers at platforms was being ensured through 16 CCTV cameras along with walk-through gates installed at the entry points.

To another query, he said luggage, parcels and other items booked for transportation to other cities were also checked through scanners.