RAWALPINDI, Mar 27 (APP): Minister for Railways Muhammad Hanif Abbasi on Thursday said that the Jaffar Express was back on track with starting its journey from Peshawar to Quetta today.
The restoration of rail services to and from Balochistan was a befitting reply to the enemy which had got suspended the same by the terrorist attack on Jaffar Express earlier in the month, he said while addressing a news conference at the Rawalpindi Railway Station.
He was flanked by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Member of the National Assembly Malik Abrar Ahmed, Member of the Provincial Assembly Ziaullah Shah, other local PML-N leaders and senior officers of Pakistan Railways Rawalpindi Division.
He said the Jaffar Express would depart Quetta for Peshawar on Friday, while an Eid special train would also leave Quetta for upcountry on March 29.
The minister said the track damaged by the terrorists during the attack on the Jaffar Express was repaired in next two days. It all showed the resilience that such cowardly terror could not deter the Pakistani nation, he added.
He said it had now been decided that the terrorists would be pursued wherever they were.
Abbasi said keeping in view security issues being faced by the Pakistan Railways, the status of Railway Police had been upgraded to at par with that of the Punjab Police. In the first phase about 500 new personnel would be recruited on merit without any political interference who would be trained to deal with any untoward situation. The people of Balochistan would be given preference in the recruitment.
More people would be inducted in the force in the next phase, he added.
Hanif Abbasi said Pakistan being a nuclear power had the ability to thwart the enemy’s evil designs against it. The entire nation was united against the menace of terrorism and extremism.
He said the enemy was behind the unrest in Balochistan, however, the valiant forces of Pakistan were defending the motherland with the blood of martyrs.
The minister said that steps were taken for the improvement of the railway. Railway stations would be equipped with all modern facilities, along with strict implementation on train timings, improvement in the sanitation system and the recovery of valuable land worth billions of rupees, he added.
He said railway schools and hospitals would also be improved.
The Pakistan Railways would InshaAllah emerge as a profitable institution, the minister hoped.