Eid-ul-Adha 2025: Pakistan Railway announces 20% discount on special trains

ISLAMABAD (by Rizwan Abbasi): Federal Minister for Railways Hanif Abbasi has announced that five special trains will be run on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha, while a 20 percent special discount will be given in fares on all three days of Eid.

Pakistan Railways has achieved significant achievements in its 77-year history, and the overall performance of the railways in the last eleven months has been excellent, he added.

The revenue of the railways has reached Rs 83 billion, of which Rs 42 billion was received from passenger services, Rs 29 billion from freight services and Rs 13 billion from other sources, he said while adding that salaries are being paid regularly to railway employees, while income is also being received from leased lands.

He said that on the instructions of the Prime Minister, the Royal Palm Club is being outsourced transparently, and all bids will be opened before the public. A budget of Rs 1 billion has been allocated for eight railway hospitals, and these hospitals will also be outsourced soon.

The minister assured that the medical facilities for railway employees will remain free, while fees will be charged from the common citizens for the services. HE also announced that fourteen railway schools are being outsourced so that private educational quality facilities can be provided.

The fees of the children of employees will be as per the conditions of the railways. Excellent arrangements have been made for cleanliness at railway stations, especially Chaklala and Margalla. Strict monitoring of food quality is underway with the help of food authorities across the country.

Hanif Abbasi said that front desk services are being given priority, and the train hostess service will also be launched soon. The federal minister said that an anti-encroachment operation will be carried out on the Punjab model, under which valuable land worth billions of rupees will be reclaimed. Station yards, commercial, agricultural, and residential lands will also be vacated.

He said that full cooperation is ongoing with the Punjab government on railway projects, and projects that have been stalled since 2016 are being reactivated. The Green Pakistan project will be implemented by planting trees around the railway tracks. A Rs 45 billion project is ready for Punjab, under which the speed of the train will be increased to 160 km per hour.

He said that 1413 new wagons are being prepared, and on June 15, a freight train will be sent to Russia from Lahore to Narowal and Multan via Sindh to the border.

A railway project with Kazakhstan is under consideration, while upgrading the railway is essential for the success of national projects like Reko Diq and Thar Coal. The federal minister revealed that three inactive companies related to freight and audit have been closed, and the Margalla Railway Station will be upgraded to modern lines.