Shehri TV – Pakistan News, Current Affairs, Entertainment

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) Shoaib Adil, General Manager of Railways’ Welfare and Special Initiatives and President Pakistan Railways Sports Board, has described sports as world’s most powerful moral and social power whose utility and importance has always been in every era since the ancient eras.  He made these observations on the eve of Railways annual sports gala which start from June 4 at the Railways Sports Complex located in Lahore’s Garhi Shahu. He pointed out that while food, work and comfort were the necessities of life, sports were like a pillar which guaranteed the strength and stability of life. “In every part of the world, people of all ages, gender and all status of life have been participating in sports whether collectively or individually,” he stressed.  Shoaib Adil observed that in today’s era, while mobile phone or the smartphone was the source of wide relations and acquisition of knowledge, it had affected the human health ...

  By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Federal Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, has declared that the much publicized commercial project of Tijori Heights, located in Karachi’s bustling area of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, had been built on Railways' land and people must refrain from any investment in it or cooperating with the builders.  He made the announcement during a press conference at his camp office in Karachi adding that the unauthorized construction on the project had been put to halt by the railways' authorities. "As many as 14 kilometers of the 30 kilometers of the KCR loop line, from City to Orangi stations, have been made clear and serviceable whereas further can be proceeded only after construction of flyovers/underpasses by the Sindh government,” the Railways' minister disclosed while highlighting the desperate need of civil works by the provincial government in the green line area in Nazimabad.  The minister stated that 15 ...

  By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Divisional Superintendent of Pakistan Railways, Karachi, Arshad Salam Khattak, has vowed that their institution will mobilize all resources to overcome train derailments and prevent accidents.  He conducted an extensive inspection of railways infrastructure from Karachi City to Karachi Bunder, commonly called KBX yard, on October 12.  He was accompanied by Divisional Transportation Officer (P) Ghulam Farid Asad, Divisional Engineer-1, Khadim Hussain Bhambro, Divisional Medical Officer Dr Abdul Samad, Assistant Officers and related staff.  The pedestrian inspection, primarily focused on the track, was so holistic that it took four hours in covering almost one mile distance.  The staff deputed enroute was inquired about the recent derailments happened in yards.  The DS pinpointed the spots of derailments along the track and directed the concerned officers for utilizing all the available reso...

  By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Federal Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, has said that the $6.8 billion tender for the ML-1 rehabilitation project would be floated soon which would revolutionize the railways' service in the country. "The country will get massive economic benefit in the form of 150,000 jobs and significant surge in the freight business after conclusion of ML-1 project,” he remarked while talking to the media at his camp office in Karachi.  He shared that the preparation of coaches for the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) was underway in Islamabad and the service would be revived as per the directives of apex court.  "Rs.1.8 billion out of earmarked Rs 10.5 billion for the KCR project have been released and 9 kilometres track out of 14 kilometres in the planned first phase revival has been totally rehabilitated" he stated while describing Karachi City as the hub of railways' activities, particularly the...

  By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Federal Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, announced that the KCR revival project was progressing at fast track and it would be revived soon as per the directives of apex court.  While talking to media at Shah Abdul Latif station of the KCR track he added that all the encroachments along the railways lines would be completely eliminated. "Pakistan Railways is all set to spend Rs. 10.5 billion on the KCR rehabilitation project whereas the responsibility of constructing 24 over head bridges lies over the shoulders of provincial government,” he remarked while highlighting the complete liaison between Pakistan Railways and Sindh government on the historic project's revival.  He further said that preparation of KCR coaches was in full swing in Islamabad and a model coach would soon be displayed at Cantonment station Karachi.  The minister visited Gillani, Nazimabad, Gulbai and Shah Abdul Latif s...

  By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The newly appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Senior General Manager of the Pakistan Railways, Nisar Ahmad Memon, visited the Divisional Superintendent office at Karachi and chaired a meeting regarding operational and freight issues.  The meeting was attended by Divisional Superintendent, Arshad Salam Khattak, Managing Director, PRFTC, Ghulam Dastagir Baloch, Chief Mechanical Engineer Carriage and Wagons), Ghulam Qasim, and all the Deputy DSs and divisional officers of Karachi railway division.  The CEO was briefed at length about the operational and freight issues confronted by the Karachi division particularly after the record-breaking rains last month. Matters pertaining to administrative domain like recruitment, and outstanding payments were discussed in depth with the visiting CEO who had served this Karachi division as DS some five months back before his transfer to Railway Headquarter at Lahor...

By Masood Sattar Khan (Pakistan News & Features Services) Pakistan Railways is set to invite the much awaited tenders for its mega Mainline-One (ML-1) project from September 12. It’s one of the major projects being undertaken in the multi-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).  “We are going to open the international tenders of the ML-1 on September 12. It is good news for the Pakistan Railways. The railways management will simultaneously initiate the publicity of this mega project which it believes is the only way to revive the ailing public sector corporation,” Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the Minister for Railways, announced in a press briefing at Lahore where Pakistan Railways is headquartered.  It was revealed that the bidding documents for USD 6.8 billion have already been finalized and the documents titled ‘Upgradation of ML-1’ have been divided into three separate packages.

By Masood Sattar Khan (Pakistan News & Features Services) The government has allocated an amount of PKR 10.5 billion for rehabilitation and implementation of the Karachi Circular Railways (KRC) project under the auspices of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).  According to details, the amount will be spent in phases in the identical manner as the ML-1 project, with the first phase to be followed shortly by the second phase.  For the restoration of KCR, the most pressing demand of the people of the mega city, the Project Director, Amer Muhammad Daudpota, has informed that there was complete unanimity between the federal government and the provincial government.  All bottlenecks in restoration of the much awaited KCR has finally been removed, he declared, much to the relief of the residents of Karachi.

By Masood Sattar Khan (Pakistan News & Features Services) Pakistan is ready to establish, in cooperation with China, the most modern international standard Railway University in Rawalpindi.  This university will be the biggest-ever educational institution of high learning in the entire South Asia and it will be funded by China, the Railways Minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, announced.  One of the most popular political leaders to have emerged from Rawalpindi, he has been in the headline news quite frequently of late as he revealed that tender for the much talked about ML-1 will be issued either at the end August or next month.

By Masood Sattar Khan (Pakistan News & Features Services) Pakistan Railways has three Main Line projects by the name of ML-1, ML-2 and ML-3 and the upgradation of all these will be carried out in phases under the auspices of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).  The first phase upgradation and doubling of 1872 Kilometers long ML-1 starts from Karachi and will pass through country's major cities and culminate in Peshawar.  However, it will pass through Havalian dry port to be built with an estimated cost of USD 40 million.  The distance between Havalian to Kashi (China) by railway is around 1,059 kilometers. This railway connection between Pakistan and China would be the shortest and most convenient particularly for traders of the two countries.  There is an alternate scheme of Gwadar Port passage that will connect Gwadar with Karachi to facilitate goods services.  Meanwhile, the Railways Minister, Shaikh Rashid Ahmed, has ...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The two-day annual inspection by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the Federal Government Inspector of Railways (FGIR) for the Karachi division concluded on August 25.  The FGIR Special team comprised of FGIR Asif Mateen Zaidi, Chief Engineer (Open Line), Shahrukh Afshar, Divisional Superintendent Karachi, Arshad Salam Khattak, Chief Commercial Manager, Rubina Nasir, besides representatives of different branches from the Railways headquarters at Lahore and divisional officers from the Karachi division.  The annual CEO & FGIR inspection is the highest level inspection of railway infrastructure, especially its track, followed by annual DS Special, quarterly inspection by Divisional Engineer, monthly by Assistant Executive Engineer and weekly by Permanent Works Inspector and daily by mates.  Almost 408 km of railways' track of Karachi division, 227 km from Karachi to Tando Adam on ...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) Pakistan Railways resumed the operation of 213 Up Moen-jo-Daro Express from the City Station Karachi with major modifications on August 17.  Prior to suspension of train operation almost 5 months back due to COVID-19, it was running between Kotri and Rohri via Sehwan, Dadu, Larkana, Shikarpur and Sukkur.  The Moen-jo-Daro  restored Express will now operate between Karachi and Multan on ML-I path from Karachi to Kotri and ML-II path from Kotri to Multan enroute Dadu, Larkana, Jacobabad, Rajanpur, D G Khan and Muzaffargarh.  The train having departed from the City Station Karachi comprised of seven economy class coaches with a cumulative seating capacity of 616 passengers. According to railway sources the extension in initial and final stations of train will be enormously beneficial for the laborers and workers from interior Sindh and Southern Punjab employed in Karachi as it pr...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Divisional Superintendent Railways Karachi Division, Arshad Salam Khattak, conducted a special annual inspection of railway installations from Karachi to Kotri.  Accompanied by Divisional Officers, he inspected tracks, level crossings, bridges, stations along with available record and preparedness of staff for coping untoward incidents.  During the 14-hour long inspection starting from Cantonment Station and culminating at Kotri, Arshad Khattak inspected the relevant records at Drigh Road, Malir, Landhi, Jumma Goth, Bin Qasim, Dhabeji, Jangshahi, Ranpathani, Meting, Braudabad, Bholari and Kotri stations.  Enroute the 160-kilometre distance, they inspected bridges and checked the level between the tracks with a leveling gauge as well as the stability of the bridges. The crisis handling and accidental preparedness of gates men at level crossings along the track was inquired by the DS....

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) "For past many years, August 14 comes and goes by silently without making a long lasting impact with all this lights and pompous show only decoration as we see every year. At Multan division, we have decided to make it a date to remember not only for a day or a two, but for many years to come,” Divisional Superintendent, Multan Division, Pakistan Railways, Shoaib Adil, stated in a brief chat with PNFS.  “This year we have planned to plant as many trees as possible by individuals. So for August 14 we have been able to plant about 70 fruit trees within two days. We are emphasizing on fruit trees for coming generations to benefit from these. Our target for this year of plantation is 50,000 trees. We are confident of achieving this figure with the blessings of Allah,” he informed.  “To all our railway colleagues at Multan Division, we are wishing a very happy independence day. We are celebrating the big...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) Discipline, with strict enforcement of rules and regulations, was emphasized at a one-day seminar on safety in train operation, organized at Divisional Head Office of the Pakistan Railways, Karachi Division, on August 12. Speaking as chief guest on the occasion, Anzar Ismail Rizvi, a highly respected officer of the Pakistan Railways, who retired from service a few years ago, stressed that most responsibility devolves upon the railway officials to play their pivotal role in ensuring safe journey for railway passengers and this objective can be achieved only be achieved with strict enforcement of rules and regulations.  He emphasized upon the greater need for regular inspection of railway installations, tracks and related systems.  This, he observed, would help avoid derailments and other accidents. He particularly called for surprise inspections.  In order to bring improvement in present d...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Divisional Superintendent Pakistan Railways, Multan Division, Shoaib Adil, launched the tree plantation drive in the Division by planting a tree.  He directed all the Stations Masters in the Division to plant 50 plants each while the PWI was told to plant 2,000 trees.  Following the directives of the Minister of Railways, the Divisional Superintendent started tree plantation campaign while planting trees at various stations during an inspection tour.  Meanwhile the DS Railway Multan also carried out an inspection tour as part of his mission for safe train travel through the division.  During inspection he inspected station buildings, met the concerned staff and made various queries to them besides checking the relevant records. He advised the field officers to give more time to their field visits instead of sitting in their offices.  The DS was accompanied by DCO Ham...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) Pakistan Railways, as part of its journey to modernization, has upgraded the payroll system of its employees who could now see the status of their salaries while sitting at home. In this regard the Deputy Director IT, Railways Headquarters, Lahore, Ali Imran, visited Multan and briefed the railway officials and employees about the newly introduced system.  Accompanied by Divisional Personnel Officer, Nabila Aslam, the DD IT Lahore, informed that the salary structure of all the railway staff has been centrally computerized and they can now go through their salary status even from their homes.

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The chairman of Pakistan Railways, Habib-ur-Rahman Gillani, has held important meeting regarding revival of the Karachi Circular Railways (KCR) project during his visit to the metropolis on August 10.  The meeting was attended by Divisional Superintendent Karachi, Arshad Salam.Khattak, Project Director KCR, Ameer Mohammad Daudpota, Deputy DS, Farid Ahmad, besides concerned engineers working on the KCR project.  The Railways chairman visited various stations and level crossings of the KCR project from City to Drigh Road while travelling en route Baldia, Shah Latif, SITE, Orangi, Nazimabad, Gillani and Urdu College stations. He also held a trolley inspection of the loop.  He carried out a detailed review of KCR Revival project and directed that ongoing work be further accelerated so that the Karachiites could benefit from the revived KCR facility at the earliest.  While inspecting ...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Divisional Superintendent Pakistan Railways, Multan Division, Shoaib Adil, started an inspection of various railway stations as part of his campaign launched to ensure safe train operation. Accompanied by the departmental officials, the DS started his inspection journey from Kundian railway station and reached Alluwali Station while inspecting condition of tracks.  At Alluwali station, he went round the station building and inspected commercial, traffic, signal and other sections. He made queries to staff members about their working.  He later reached Piplan station and carried out similar exercise. He checked the working of Abdul Rahim, the points man and awarded him cash prize and commendation certificate in appreciation. He left the station to check railway line’s golai number A-27 and level crossing 193 and made queries to gateman.  He later arrived at Kalor Kot railway station and repeated the earlier...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi ( Pakistan News & Features Services) In order to ensure the safest possible train operations through Multan Division, the Divisional Superintendent, Pakistan Railways, Shoaib Adil, has mobilized all his resources, having deputed all his officers into their respective fields of operation. Following his directives, the Divisional Signal Engineer, Allah Ditta Lashari, inspected the signal system from Multan to Galewal.  He inspected the entire CBI system through Multan, Shershah, Shujabad and Galewal and checked the presence of staff on duty  He checked CBI system on tracks as well as from the office of respective station masters personally.  The DS Railways has made it loud and clear to all his staff members about the importance of signal system and called for regular inspection of the system by concerned officials.  Meanwhile the Assistant Mechanical Engineer, Shah Rukh Malik, also visited loco shed Multan. He inspected the presence of emplo...