Lahore: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has approved a relief package of PKR 6 billion for Pakistan Railways (PR) which is expected to help ease it through the time of the lockdown cause by COVID-19 pandemic, a news source reported. The amount will be provided to the Ministry of Railways over a period of 3 months in instalments of PKR 2 billion each.
The funds will be primarily spent on the staff salaries and pensions. The department had already stopped running the passenger trains on March 24. Earlier, the government’s plan was to resume the services in April, however, on Monday, Railways Secretary Habibur Rehman Gillani announced that this has extended to an indefinite period.
According to the railway officials, the relief package of
PKR 2 billion per month would help counter the losses owing to the suspension
of passenger trains. Reportedly, the freight trains are still functioning,
therefore railways are still generating nearly 35% of the revenue.
