The Pakistan Railways has suspended a Kohat-bound train from Rawalpindi for five days due to shortage of diesel, while two more trains will be suspended next week.
Shortage of fuel is the main reason behind this, but the official claim blames shortage of passengers.
A senior official of Pakistan Railways told Dawn that the organisation had to clear dues of Rs1,300 million owed to the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) against diesel charges, and the PSO had asked to clear these before receiving new consignments.
He said that for the past two months, the divisional headquarters were purchasing diesel from the open market, while the PR started negotiations with PSO officials and managed to pay the dues in installments.
“The PSO has started providing fuel, which will arrive in different divisions next week,” he added.
Talking about the service suspension, the official said shortage of funds was the main reason as there was a gap between expenditures and income, adding that the PR required 200,000 liters of diesel daily to run trains across the country.
He added that the Pakistan Railways has planned suspension of two Sargodha-Kunndian trains in the coming days.
A few days ago, the PR had also suspended a night coach from Lahore to Karachi for 15 days.
“In Rawalpindi, the daily requirement of diesel for the 34 trains is 45,000 liters. However 20,000 liters of diesel are provided, leaving no option but to suspend the train to Kohat,” he said.
When contacted, Rawalpindi’s Divisional Superintendent Syed Munawar Shah said the Kohat train was suspended because of shortage of passengers instead of fuel shortage.
“A total of 440 passengers can travel on the five coaches of the Kohat-bound train, but the average number of passengers is 230-250, hardly 50 percent of the total capacity, and it earns us no profit,” he said.
He admitted that the Railways’ Rawalpindi Division was procuring diesel from the open market for the past two months.
“The supply of diesel has started from Karachi, and will reach here late Sunday night,” he said.
However, Mr Shah failed to comment on the resumption of the suspended service and on plans to suspend other trains from Rawalpindi.
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