In the province of Balochistan, Pakistan Railways is prepared to begin restoration work on the closed parts, which might both bring in money for the organization and benefit the local populace.
According to a Ministry of Railways official, the move “would benefit the province’s natives and will help stimulate commercial activity for small business owners and other stakeholders.”
He claimed that Khawaja Saad Rafique, the minister of railways, had expressed a significant interest in this matter and urged the department’s responsible official to develop a thorough strategy for the restoration of various parts in order to increase revenue in the province.
In response to a question, he stated that Pakistan Railways also intended to begin track rehabilitation work on a 33-kilometer stretch of track by replacing the sleepers between the Quetta-Bostan and Quetta-Chaman sections.
In addition to helping passengers, the route will link three of the province’s largest cities, he said.
According to him, Dera Allah Yar-Sibi-Quetta, Quetta-Chaman, Sibi-Khost, Spezend-Dalbandin-Taftan, and Bostan-Zhob, all of which have been shut down for the past 15 years, make up the majority of the railway network in Balochistan province.
The official stated that there were two passenger trains running in Balochistan, the Chaman Passenger (349Up, 350Down) and the Jaffer Express (40Up, 39Down), and that no stations had been closed in the Quetta division over the previous 15 years.
He claimed that, with the closed Bostan-Zhob segment included, the total length of the railway track in Balochistan was 1,470.36 kilometers.
The majority of the track is over a century old, and due to deferred maintenance and resource limitations, engineering speed restrictions have been put in place on some parts, he said, adding that normal track maintenance was being done using the resources that were available.
He claimed that the department was implementing a number of actions to enhance railway services in Balochistan, including approving PC-I for the track’s repair and the rehabilitation of an additional 100 km of track between Ahmedwal Dalbadin on the Quetta-Taftan segment.
The official announced that restoration work would be done on the track between Bostan-Chaman and 160.024 kilometres of track between Nokundi Kohi-Taftan on the Quetta-Taftan segment.