Islamabad: Late running of trains has become so endemic in Pakistan that an exasperated Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has called for punctuality in long-distance train services.
These trains connect the cities of Karachi, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Quetta.
Ashraf made the plea at a meeting on Wednesday also attended by Minister for Railways Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, reported the Associated Press of Pakistan.
"Pakistan Railways and its rehabilitation is one of my top priorities," said Ashraf, who became Prime Minister only last month.
The Pakistan Railways, which is not financially healthy, operates 228 mail, express and passenger trains every day, carrying a total of 178,000 people daily.
Last month, the Dawn newspaper said in an editorial that with the department facing an acute shortage of locomotives to run its trains, the country needed to urgently acquire new engines.
IANS
First Published: Thursday, July 05, 2012, 12:23