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ISLAMABAD, Mar 25 (APP): The Standing Committee on Railways was briefed on the Jaffer Express incident on Tuesday from the Minister for Railways, Inspector General, Pakistan Railways Police and the Additional Secretary, Ministry of Interior.
The national body met under the Chairmanship of Rai Hassan Nawaz Khan, MNA and praised the bravery and professionalism of the security forces who took part in the rescue operation.
The Committee decided to take in-camera briefing on the Jaffer Express incident and decided to take further briefing from the Secretary, Ministry of Interior in the next meeting.
The Committee expressed displeasure on the absence of Secretary, Ministry of Interior from the important meeting and directed the Ministry to ensure his presence in the next meeting for briefing the Committee on that incident.
Thereafter, the media was allowed to attend the meeting and the other agenda of the meeting was taken up by the Committee.
The Secretary Railway Board briefed the Committee about the ongoing two mega projects of Pakistan Railways including ‘Procurement/ manufacturing of 820 high capacity freight wagons and 230 passenger carriages’ and ‘Thar rail connectivity project’.
He apprised the Committee that approved cost for 820 high capacity wagons was Rs 9.481.716 million whose revised cost was now Rs17,575.452 million and 390 remaining wagons were expected to be completed by 31st December, 2025.
The Secretary Railway Board further said that the carrying capacity, operational speed, axle load, and gross load had been increased of those wagons. Then he apprised the Committee that the approved cost for 230 passenger coaches was Rs21,712.275 million whose revised cost was now Rs.53,392.493 million and 184 remaining passenger coaches would be completed by 30th June, 2027 whose standard and load capacity had been improved manifold.
Lastly, the Secretary Railway Board apprised the Committee about Thar Rail Connectivity Project whose admin approval was taken on 9th May, 2024 with a total cost of Rs 53,726.926 million and had to be completed within 2 years. He further said that the project was being executed as a Joint Venture Agreement between the Pakistan Railways and the Government of the Sindh with a 50-50 percent cost sharing on the project. The Ministry also showed the videos and pictorial view of both the mega projects to the Committee.
The meeting was attended by member national assembly including Waseem Qadir, Ibrar Ahmad, Syed Shah Ahad Ali Shah, Mehreen Razzak Bhutto, Muhammad Ilyas Chaudhary, Zulfiqar Bachani, Muhammad Jamal Ahsan Khan, Syed Waseem Hussain (online), Nuzhat Saddiq (online), Ramesh Lal (online), and Shafqat Abbas (online).
The senior officers from the Ministry of Railways and Pakistan Railways were also present at the meeting.