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Event Title: Meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Railways was held here at Old PIPS Hall, Parliament Lodges on Monday with Deputy Chairman Senate Mirza Muhammad Afridi in Chair.

Event Date: 2022-12-05

The meeting commenced with deliberation on the question raised by Senator Mushtaq Ahmad regarding the restoration of 59km railway track from Peshawar to Torkham. Senator Mushtaq Ahmad was of opinion that, this railway track is not only important from trade perspective but also holds historical importance. He further added that this railway track was made in 1926 and remained operational till 2007 but after the flood devastation of year 2007, the track became damaged and was not made operational till date. Zafar Ranjha, Secretary for ministry of Railways, apprised the committee that, restoration work of said track will cost around Rs.1982 Million and ministry don't have enough revenue to do so. However, ministry is in negotiation with KPK government for the financing of the project and KPK government is willing to finance the project, he added. He further added that, some portion of track also falls in airport vicinity which  also creates  a hurdle in restoration work. The Chair decided to refer the matter to Senate Standing Committee on Defence for further deliberation way forward. Secretary for Ministry of Railways also informed the senate body about Afghan Transit project which will link Pakistan to Uzbekistan, and costs around 8.2 Billion USD. The committee directed the ministry to provide complete briefing on the said project in the next meeting. The senate committee also suggested the ministry of railways to take input from ministry of tourism on Peshawar and Torkham project regarding its potentiality from tourism perspective. The committee deferred the deliberations on the matter till the next meeting.

 

The meeting was attended by Senator Dost Muhammad, Senator Shahadat Awan, Senator Mushtaq Ahmad, Zafar Ranjha Secretary for ministry of railways and other concerned officers were also in attendance.