The federal government has decided to allow the resumption of train operations from Wednesday.
As per the government resources, a high level meeting which is scheduled for today at 3 pm in Islamabad and will be presided by Prime Minister Imran Khan, will discuss the matters pertaining to the resumption of train operations in the country.
The meeting will also be attended by Railway Minister Sheikh Rasheed and other high ranking officials will attend the meeting which will ponder on the issue of resumption of railway services and will also formulate necessary SOPs and healthcare guidelines for this purpose.
However, Sindh Transport Minister Awais Qadir Shah has stated that the Sindh government will not allow the resumption of train operations in the province as it will further contribute to the spread of the novel virus.
“If train operation kicks off, it will be very difficult to control the coronavirus,” he warned.
“Karachi is a very big city, where people of all the provinces reside. As for now, there won’t be any train operation in the city,” he added.
Mr Shah also warned that the resumption of train services might boost the infection numbers to 100,000 in the country in a short span of time.
Prior to this, Railway Minister Sheikh Rasheed, on Sunday, had urged the Prime Minister to resume train operations as the department is going in deficit.
“We have to give pensions and salaries to people before Eid,” he noted.
It is to be noted that train services in the country have been suspended since March in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
