Rawalpindi: The first Summer Special Vacation Train will leave Rawalpindi for Karachi on June 18, Monday at 2.30pm, officials have said.
Pakistan Railways said its special Summer Vacation Trains are intended to help passengers, particularly families, planning travel to different destinations to enjoy summer vacations.
Rawalpindi Divisional Commercial Officer (DCO) Raza Ali Habib said Pakistan Railways had finalised all the arrangements to operate summer special trains while five special trains were announced for Eid Al Fitr. A fifth special Eid train will depart from Multan Cantonment on June 19 at 7am via Kot Addu, Dao Khail and Attock city.
It is scheduled to reach its destination, Rawalpindi, on the same night at 10.15pm.
In order to ensure the safety of passengers and visitors, security arrangements had been enhanced at the Rawalpindi Railway Station ahead of Eid Al Fitr, he added.
He said Pakistan Railways was going to operate special “Summer Vacation Special Trains” between Karachi and Rawalpindi.
Raza Habib said, the special trains would be operated on June 18, 22, 26 and 30 from Rawalpindi to Karachi at 2.30pm while on return these trains would run from Karachi to Rawalpindi on June 20, 24 and 28 at 8pm.
These trains would stop at Hyderabad, Rohri, Khanpur, Bahawalpur, Khanewal, Sahiwal, Okara, Raiwind, Lahore, Gujranwala, Wazirabad, Gujrat, Lalamusa and Jhelum, he informed.
The Summer Vacation Trains will feature A/C business, A/C Standard and Economy classes of coaches. He said armed police personnel had been deployed at the railway station.
He said security at the railway station had been tightened with police in plain clothes assigned to keep an eye on suspicious persons. Uniformed officers have also been deployed to frisk passengers entering the station.
The entire parking area had been covered using 32 high-definition, closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) apart from installing floodlights.
Moreover, three booths with imported computerised barriers have also been set up to ensure proper checking and to maintain records of all visitors including the driver, the number plate and the vehicle.
Ground surveillance cameras have also been installed to check vehicles, he added. A special control room had been set up where activities of the visitors are monitored round the clock, he said adding, foolproof security of the passengers at platforms is being ensured through 16 CCTV cameras while walk-through gates had also been installed at the entry points.
To another query, he said that luggage, parcels and other items booked for transportation to other cities of the country are also being checked through scanners installed at the station.
