Islamabad: While the rising prices of petroleum products have made general transport expensive, now Pakistan Railways has also increased fares, putting passengers in new trouble. The Railways has announced that the fares of passenger trains will be increased by 2% from July 18 and goods trains from July 21.
According to railway officials, this decision was taken after the recent increase in petrol and diesel prices to meet operating costs. Along with this, the fare for coal transportation has also been increased by 3%, which may directly affect industries and the supply chain.
This is not the first time, but this is the second increase in the last two weeks. On July 4, passenger train fares were also increased by 2%, which had already raised concerns among the public.
One citizen responded:
“The train was the only cheap way for the poor; now it is also getting expensive. It seems that now we will have to walk!”
Officials say that the increase in fares was inevitable and these measures are necessary to save the institution from financial losses, but the public hopes that in return, they will also see improvements in services.