LAHORE/QUETTA:
Ten days have passed since terrorists hijacked a Peshawar-bound train in Balochistan’s Bolan district. However, the Pakistan Railways (PR) has yet to receive clearance to resume train operations across the restive province, leading to a daily loss of over Rs2.4 million.
An outlawed separatist organization on March 11 hijacked Jafar Express with over 400 passengers on board. The security forces later launched an operation killing all the terrorists and rescuing all the passengers except the 21 people who had been killed by the terrorists during the hijacking.
According to sources, the PR is awaiting a clearance from security and intelligence agencies and is not booking seats, causing a daily loss of Rs2.4 million.
Meanwhile, the PR announced on Thursday its plan to run five additional trains to facilitate passengers who want to celebrate the Eidul Fitr with their families.
The first Eid special train will depart from Karachi to Lahore on March 26. The second train will run from Quetta to Peshawar on March 26.
The third train will depart from Lahore to Karachi on March 27. The fourth train will run from Karachi to Rawalpindi via Faisalabad and Sargodha on March 27.
The fifth Eid special train will travel from Karachi to Lahore via Faisalabad and Sheikhupura.
